ON THE FIRST DAY AS AN EMERGING MARKET Stock prices did not reflect the optimism in the statements

The first day in the category of emerging secondary markets under the banner of the London agency FTSE Russell was marked by an event organized by the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) and declining indices across the board, in a negative climate for risky assets in international markets.

At the event organized at the BVB headquarters, with a low attendance, President Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban and Finance Minister Florin Cîţu sent their messages. Officials of the Stock exchange officials and of the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF), as well as other people spoke. around the capital market.

Bringing as many companies as possible to the stock market, attracting investors and increasing liquidity, developing the capital market as a financing tool for the real economy or promoting it in the echelon of emerging markets under the MSCI umbrella were among the recurring themes in speeches that sometimes were interspersed with jabs at political opponents.

Overall, there is the perception and hope that the new category we have entered is only a step towards a higher level, probably also in the context in which the countries around us with comparable sizes and economies are at least one rung above us.

The optimism displayed at the event that marked the first day as an emerging market on the Bucharest Stock Exchange was unable to help stock quotes, as all indices fell.

The BET index, which tracks the seventeen most liquid stocks of the Romanian market, excluding SIFs, fell 2.46%, to 8,891.59 points, while BET-XT, which follows the 25 most traded stocks on the BVB, fell 2.39%, to 802.96 points.

Brokers believe that it is mainly the effect of drops on the international markets, which we have become better connected to after entering the new "league".

"Of course, the expectations were that, on the first day as an emerging market, we would see rises on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, but we had the opposite, because we had correlations with the significant drops on the foreign markets", said Dragoş Mesaroş, of the Goldring brokerage house.

It is a statement that comes as the Stoxx 600 index dropped 3.24%, on a day where European banks saw big drops after information surfaced over the weekend that Deutsche Bank, HSBC and JP Morgan Chase & Co have done business with clients suspected of money laundering or other financial crimes.

As a result, on the Bucharest Stock Exchange the top liquidity in the "regular" market was held by three banks.

Shares of Banca Transilvania (TLV), one of the companies in our market present in the FTSE indices, had a turnover of 22.63 million lei. The stock fell 6.5%, to 2.3 lei.

Erste Group Bank (EBS) shares, which have a secondary listing in Bucharest, saw a turnover of 17.93 million lei, the second largest of the day. EBS closed at 89.5 lei, down 10.5% over Friday, a drop nearly double the one the stock saw in Vienna.

BRD-Groupe Societe Generale (BRD) fell 3.42%, to 12.42 lei, amid a turnover of 6.77 million lei. The stock saw a "deal" trade of 71.38 million lei, which was also closed at 12.42 lei/share.

Contrary to the general direction of the market, Nuclearelectrica (SNN), the second company on the BSE to be included in FTSE indices, rose 1.11%, to 16.46 lei, following a turnover of 1.66 million lei.

Shares of construction materials maker TeraPlast (TRP), the third Romanian company that is part of the indices of the London ratings firm, saw a turnover of 1.99 million lei, and a price drop of 3.08 %, to 0.388 lei.

The BET-FI index, which includes the five SIFs and Fondul Proprietatea (FP), fell 1.91%, to 41,998.96 points, while the BET-NG index, which tracks energy and utility companies, fell 1.3%, to 656.24 points.

The total turnover was 158.11 million lei (32.54 million euros), almost two and a half times higher than this year's daily median, which, stood at 66.7 million lei (excluding yesterday's transfers). About half of the day's turnover was due to the "deal" trade involving BRD shares.