Chinese tsunami hits Romanian shores: Stocks down 3.5% in Bucharest on Monday

The Bucharest Stock Exchange’s main index BET lost over 4% of its value just after the market opened on Monday morning, August 24, as all the world’s markets have been affected by the drop in the Chinese markets. China’s main stock market index closed 8.5% lower on Monday and reached total losses of nearly 38% since its peak in mid-June. The 20% drop of the Chinese share prices in the last week sent a ripple effect all over the world’s markets. The US markets closed down by more than 3% on Friday while the most important European markets dropped lost more than 2% on Monday morning. The shock was also felt on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, where the blue-chip shares lost more than 3% on Monday morning. Romanian Investment fund Fondul Proprietatea (FP), the local market’s most traded stock, saw its shares down by 4%. The last time the main Romanian index lost more than 4% in a day was in May 2012. The BET index, which reflects the evolutions of the ten most traded shares on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, reached a 7-year high in July this year, when it passed the 7,600 points mark. At that point, it had a 70% increase over the past three years. Bucharest Stock Exchange CEO: Local capital market, underdeveloped Bucharest Stock Exchange’s turnover, down by half, on lower share trading editor@romania-insider.com