The Central Bank’s stimuli can be clearly seen on the performance of the Hungarian stock exchange in the third quarter; the leading index, BUX has increased by 7.2% during the period between July and September, offsetting its 7% drawback in the second quarter.

Among the major shares on the market the two best performing were MOL and OTP, which is not a big surprise, as during the second quarter downturn Richter succeeded in holding up the best. However, the best performer was Mol this time. Despite the big fluctuations in the oil price by the end of the fourth quarter, the share price of Richter went up by almost 13%. The OTP’s share price also showed an upward tendency, it increased by more than 9%. The main reason behind this was the overall positive good mood internationally, as opposed to the monetary policy, which drove up prices in the sector. On the other hand, Richter underperformed the BUX index, its price increased only with a slight 4 per cent; on the contrary, Egis, which suffered from undervaluation according to investors, skyrocketed. The 20% increase in the price of the medicine producer’s stock was enough for the second place in the Class A share ranking. The first place was occupied by Synergon; it seems that many investors trust in the new reorganization plans. With the 23% upward movement during Q1, the company’s share became the best performing in Class A, and this dynamism remained throughout Q2 with 27%. In Q3 it further increased with an additional 42%, and became the best performing Class A stock both from a quarterly and yearly perspective.

It is a remarkable performance considering the overall declining tendency on the stock market during the third quarter, namely 21 out of all shares’ price fell, which means a decline in the price of every other share. Hungarian Telekom performed the weakest among the four big shares*. It is interesting to see that this stock lost 23.2 and 4.3 percent of its value throughout Q2 and Q3, respectively. If we consider the 50 HUF dividend payout, the situation still doesn’t look better; calculating with this, the fall in the price was “only” 15% in Q2, which is still the worst result. The delay in the appearance of the fourth mobile operator on the market was also positive news to the company’s shares. The biggest loser of the year was E-Star, which is not surprising in light of that the company is on the edge of bankruptcy due to its non-payment of municipal liabilities. The share price fell more than 30% in Q1, by another 15% in Q2, and recently it became 66% cheaper. And it is certainly not the worst situation yet, as the maturity of its bonds is due this October; it is questionable whether payment will occur at all.

Among the smaller shares it is worth mentioning Masterplast, which have experienced a 20% increase, but couldn’t reach 630 HUF per share, at which institutional and private investors could buy them.

*The four blue chip stocks on the Budapest Stock Exchange: Hungarian Telekom, Mol, OTP, Richter.