Crobex day ended with a decrease of 10.21 percent

From the very morning, somewhat influenced by global movements, and partly due to the panic that is impossible to avoid despite all the efforts of market participants, the index fluctuated around a decrease of ten percent or more.

The biggest losers are definitely shipping companies and companies from the construction sector
The events at the Zagreb Stock Exchange today can be described as a complete disaster. The situation was most vividly described by a participant at the regular annual ZSE conference, the editor of Dnevnik HTV, Zoran Šprajc, humorously stating that he does not understand why the faces of brokers are green today when stock prices are deep in the red. The regular turnover today amounted to as much as 158 million kuna, which means that there was sufficient demand from the buying side as well.

The index plummeted by 10.21 percent, to a closing of 2,209 points, with countless trading blocks. Despite some thoughts that it would be good to close the exchange for a while to calm the panic, the leaders of ZSE decided not to do so. HT was the most liquid stock with 32 million kuna, and the price fell by 4.42 percent, to a closing of 218 kuna. Although the drop does not seem large, this price was reached in the last hours of trading. The average price at which HT was traded was 215 kuna, and at one point the price of our most liquid stock was only 201 kuna. The stock of Ericsson Nikola Tesla recorded a turnover of 25 million kuna with a price drop of 9.98 percent. Definitely, the biggest losers today were the shareholders of companies from the shipping sector.

Atlantska plovidba fell by 21.2 percent (16.1 million kuna turnover), Uljanik plovidba by 17.04 percent (1.7 million kuna turnover), and Tankerska plovidba by 18.57 percent (800 thousand kuna turnover). After the shipowners, the stocks of the otherwise most liquid sector, that of construction, suffered the most. IGH sank by 16.4 percent (7.5 million kuna turnover), Ingra by 19.92 (6.6 million kuna turnover), and Dalekovod by 17.9 percent (6.3 million kuna turnover). The stock of Ina, understandably given the now quite small free float due to the offer from Mol, was the one that resisted market sentiments today. Although today’s closing price of 2,150 kuna is 650 kuna lower than that from the public offering, Ina rose by 2.38 percent today with a turnover of 2.3 million kuna.

In addition to Ina, among the stocks with million kuna turnover, Podravka (up 0.17 percent with a million kuna turnover) and Jadransko osiguranje (up 0.56 percent with 3.2 million kuna turnover) also recorded growth today. It is difficult to predict whether this disaster will continue tomorrow. The exchanges in the USA started the day with a slight increase, so a similar outcome can be expected tomorrow in Zagreb. Or maybe not. These days, truly no one has a certain answer. (Amir Kulenović*)

*The author owns shares of HT.