In November total Latvian capital market trading turnover reached EUR 104.31 (LVL 58.64) million. Trading activity in Debt market, similarly to previous month, was very high- EUR 96.78 (LVL 54.26) million, which is the highest monthly trading volume of this year. Also, it should be said that thanks to very active debt securities trading in October and November, the debt market turnover in this year™s 11 months (EUR 703.37 million) already has exceeded the annual number of year 2000 (EUR 690.90 million). Trading with shares in November was more passive, and turnover reached EUR 7.53 (LVL 4.22) million.
Equity market capitalization at the end of month increased to EUR 706.85 (LVL 396.17), but total nominal value of debt securities as of November 30 was EUR 496.92 (LVL 278.51) million. It is pleasant to note that the demand of mortgage bonds during the last moths has increased significantly, hence, also turnover and number of transactions has more than doubled. In addition, on November 2 and December 6 in RSE were held the auctions where newly issued 10- year mortgage bonds were offered. All the 20 000 mortgage bonds were sold for total value EUR 3.62 (LVL 2.03) million, and, in the latter auction the average price was notably higher than price of this security in trades in November as well as in previous auction, thus, also indicating particular demand and interest in this type of securities in Latvia.
The Latvian capital market growth in November was reflected also in both indexes; capitalization index Dow Jones RSE increased by 6.02%, while price index RICI appreciated even more- 9.23 points or 6.34%. RICI index growth should be explained by the fact that majority of Official and Second list shares experienced price increase during November. The stock price also augmented for the largest company in terms of market cap Latvias Gâze (more than 60%); its price increased by 12.6% or more than 1 EUR, thus, also maximizing Dow Jones index value.
Tallinn
The TSE turnover was unchanged compared to previous month at 24 mln euros in November. The index TALSE closed at 136.61, up by 12% during the month.
Standard & Poor's raised its long-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating on Estonia to single-'A'-minus from triple-'B'-plus. The rating agency said that the upgrade reflects consistent and significant progress in negotiations with the EU, which has supported continued implementation of structural reforms, particularly privatisation.
Economic growth in Estonia was 4.9% in Q3 compared to the same period last year, preliminary estimations by the statistics office showed. During H1, the GDP grew by 5.4%. The Central Bank of Estonia said that the cooling of economic climate worldwide has not yet had its impact on Estonia. However it expects the economic growth to slow down after Q3, which can be noticed by lower exports. The Central Bank forecasts the economy to grow by 3.5% in 2002.
Estonia rose to fourth place in the Index of Economic Freedom released by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. According to the study, Estonia has become one of the world™s freest economies. The three freest economies in the world are Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand. Estonia shares fourth place in this index together with Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the United States.
Vilnius
Although share demand on the market increased by 10%, investors were not particularly active in November. At the Stock Exchange, 19.5 million units were sold (in October Œ 57 million units). The total securities turnover, although larger than the lowest volume of the year recorded in July, was just EUR 24.0 (LTL 85) million. Trading in shares stood at EUR 12.3 (LTL 43.7) million (51%), that in debt securities was traditionally slightly above EUR 11.3 (LTL 40) million. Following an 86% decrease in share trading volumes by block transactions, central market share turnover moved up by one fifth to EUR 4.2 (LTL 14.9) million and accounted for 34% of the total share turnover. AB Klaipëdos Jûrø Kroviniø Kompanija shares generated EUR 5.9 (LTL 21) million and took nearly half of the total share turnover. On the central market, the most active trading was carried out in shares of Snaigë (EUR 1.8 (LTL 6.3) million), Lietuvos Dujos (EUR 0.34 (LTL 1.2) million), Rokiðkio Sûris (EUR 0.31 (LTL 1.1) million), and Lietuvos Telekomas (EUR 1.1 (LTL 4) million). It is worth noting that trading in shares of this telecommunication company was four times more active at the London Stock Exchange than in Lithuania.
The overall price level continued improving, which was proved by the increase of values of the NSEL equity indices. Market share price of the companies such as Bankas Snoras, Vilniaus Vingis, Klaipëdos Transporto Laivynas, and Alytaus Tekstilë recovered by more than one fourth. It is very likely that decisions of the general shareholders™ meetings of several companies regarding plans to increase the authorised capital as well as announcements about successful performance during ten months of the current year influenced the rise of share prices and of indices at the same time. Listed public companies Utenos Trikotaþas, Lietuvos Draudimas, and Bankas Snoras intend to increase the authorised capital, while public company Klaipëdos Nafta announced its plans to reduce the par value of shares from LTL 100 to LTL 1.
