ZSE: Construction Sector Dives into the Red

In the absence of encouraging business news, the indices on the Zagreb Stock Exchange are slightly up today, with trading primarily focused on the shares of HT and Ledo.

Around 12:00 PM, Crobex was up 0.8 percent, at 1,912 points, while Crobex10 was up 0.36 percent, at 1,074 points. Regular trading amounted to 3.8 million kuna, which is about 2 million less than at this time on Friday.

– In the absence of encouraging business news, we do not expect significant market activity. The focus of investors is typically on the most liquid issues with modest trading volume. Among the more important macroeconomic announcements, investors will be awaiting the release of the first estimate of gross domestic product for the fourth quarter of last year on Thursday – emphasizes Nikolina Medić, financial analyst at Zagrebačka banka.

The highest trading volume so far has been achieved by HT shares, slightly above half a million kuna. Its price weakened by 0.08 percent, to 215 kuna. A similar trading volume was achieved by Ledo shares, with its price strengthening by 0.48 percent, to 7,942 kuna. Among the more liquid issues, the largest price increase was recorded by Konzum shares, up 2.07 percent, and Ericsson Nikola Tesla, up 1.77 percent.

The biggest loser, however, was Badel 1862 shares, whose price plummeted by 9.91 percent. Following is the construction sector – the price of Ingra shares fell by 8.1 percent, Dalekovod by 8.03 percent, and Industrogradnja by 7.7 percent.

At the same time, stock prices on European exchanges are rising sharply. Currently, the Paris CAC, London Ftse, and Frankfurt DAX are up between 1.23 and 2.06 percent. This morning, the Tokyo Nikkei also rose by more than two percent.

– A positive atmosphere prevails on European and Asian exchanges influenced by media speculation about the appointment of a new governor of the Japanese central bank, who advocates for stronger monetary expansion – notes Medić. According to media reports, the new governor of the Japanese central bank could be the current president of the Asian Development Bank, Haruhiko Kuroda.