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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Daily Market Brief

Market Comment

Ukrainian equity markets took a pounding yesterday (Mar. 15), as investors continued to turn their backs on stocks following the devastation in Japan. The UX exchange (-3.19%) fell more than 80 points on a hefty equity trading volume of UAH 245 mln. Motor Sich (MSICH -6.08%) led the plunge for yet another session; the stock has dropped more than 13% over the past week. Metals and mining companies (ALMK -5.01%, AZST -4.14%, YASK -5.78%, ENMZ -6.8%), GenCos (CEEN -5.55%, DOEN -6.73%, ZAEN -3.55%) and Stirol (STIR -6.65%) took it on the chin. Banks (BAVL -3.15%, USCB -2.91%) and Ukrtelecom (UTLM -3.04%) did not fare much better. Ukrnafta (UNAF +0.79%) managed to avoid the fall, braced by news that shareholders would consider a 25% share capital increase at next week’s EGM.

On international markets, Ukrainian stocks were engulfed in the widespread selloff. Cadogan Petroleum (CAD LN -5.7%) suffered the most severely impact, while oil and gas peers Regal Petroleum (RPT LN -1.88%) and JKX Oil & Gas (JKX LN -2%) closed well into the red. Ferrexpo (FXPO LN -2.18%) reversed to losses, and MHP (MHPC LI -3.49%) continued its decline. In Warsaw, Agroton (AGT PW -3.23%) recorded a dramatic drop and Astarta (AST PW -0.95%) faded. Kernel (KER PW) managed to find support, and posted a noteworthy gain of 1.69%.


Fixed Income: Placement of Ukrainian Treasuries tops UAH 3.3 bln