Economy vs. coronavirus: Bucharest Stock Exchange, down for the ninth day in a row

The main index of the Bucharest Stock Exchange – BET – dropped by 9.6% on Monday, March 16, amid historical declines on the international markets as investors fear the coronavirus pandemic will cause longer-term negative effects on the global economy.

In the US, the Dow Jones Index, dropped by 3,000 points, or 12.9%, on Monday, its worst day since the Black Monday (October 19, 1987) crash.

The Bucharest Stock Exchange opened the Tuesday trading session slightly up, but, by noon, the BET was down 0.5%, marking the ninth consecutive day of decline. Since March 4, the BET has declined by 27%.

Moreover, in the last month, the BET dropped by 30%, after passing the 10,000-point threshold for the first time since 2007.

The most affected shares in the BET were those of oil group OMV Petrom (SNP), which lost 34% in the last month, also due to the drop in oil prices. The shares of gas transporter Transgaz (TGN) were down 31%. A similar decline was recorded by the shares of lender Banca Transilvania (TLV). Power producer Nuclearelectrica (SNN), power transmission company Transelectrica (TEL), investment fund Fondul Proprietatea (FP), and lender BRD-Societe Generale (BRD) also lost between 25% and 30% of their value in the last 30 days.

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