In October total Latvian capital market trading volume amounted EUR 88.58 (LVL 50.15) million. Equity market trading reached EUR 5.26 (LVL 2.98) million, while monthly trading turnover in Debt market was particularly high- EUR 83.32 (LVL 47.17) million. Though, the major stake of debt market turnover comprises the trading of government debt securities, there has increased the activity in corporate and mortgage bonds market as well. Further, on October 2 in RSE auction were sold the Mortgage and Land banks issued mortgage bonds of total nominal value - EUR 1.24 (LVL 0.7) million, and on November 2 there is planned another auction where recently issued 10 years mortgage bonds for total nominal value of EUR 1.77 (LVL 1) million will be offered.
Total nominal value of debt securities reached EUR 500.09 (LVL 283.56) million, while equity market capitalization during month time augmented by EUR 69.68 (LVL 39.45) million to EUR 633.58 (LVL 358.69) million as of October 31.
If compared to the end value of the previous month, capitalization index Dow Jones RSE showed impressive rise of 8.75% or 13.42 points; RICI index also increased during last month, though, slightly by 0.03% or 0.05 points. Since Latvijas Gaze accounts for about 60% of total market cap, the sharp rise in capitalization and RSE Dow Jones is mainly explained by notable Latvijas Gaze share price rise, which after fall in September, during this month gained 14.9%. Latvijas Gaze shares likewise previous months were the most traded stocks in October and constituted almost 90% of total equity market turnover.
The share price also grew for another Baltic index stock Ventspils nafta - 1.39%, and, what is more, there was number of other shares from RSE Official and Second list that experienced pleasing price increases in October: RÓgas TF- 16.67%, Valmieras S-R - 8.33% and Grindex- 4.44%.
According to the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, in October there was observed deflation in Latvia - 0.2% over September (CPI rise in Septmber was 0.6%), but unemployment rate as of October 1 has diminished to 7.6%.
Tallinn
Trading in the TSE listed securities will start in HEX's trading system on January 28, 2002. From that date on the TSE member firms will start using the HEX trading system replacing the current TSE trading system. All the HEX members willing to become members of the TSE will have an easy access to Estonian securities.
Euro will replace the Estonian kroon as the trading currency. This means that the transactions will be inserted in the trading system only in Euros. The transaction information on the TSE web site will be recorded both in Euros and in the Estonian kroons. Similarly the financial reports of the listed companies will be published in kroons and Euros in parallel.
The TSE trading hours will remain the same: between 10.00 to 14.00. A new auto-match system will replace the current phone-based system - buying and selling orders will automatically be matched based on their price and time priority. The companies listed on the TSE will be divided between the following lists: Main List, I-List (current Secondary List), Bonds and Free Market.
The Parliament adopted new Securities Market Act, which brings the Estonian legislation in line with the relevant European Union regulations. For the first time the topics related to provision of investment services and securitiesí settlement are regulated by law. Also the rights and responsibilities of the regulated market is defined and the stock exchangeís rights and obligations are regulated by the law.
Vilnius
Following the resolution of the Management Board of the Stock Exchange, on 1 October 2001, shares of AB Kauno Tiltai were included in to the Current List, while at the end of the month shares of AB Bir²¯ AkcinÎ Pieno BendrovÎ and AB Ventus-Nafta were removed from the group of Unlisted securities to which central market procedures are applied.
This month, investorsí activity on the market intensified, which resulted in a 14% growth in the demand of shares. Over 52 million units of shares were traded at the Stock Exchange, which is more than the average monthly turnovers of the I and II quarter and 1.3 times more than the number of shares traded in the III quarter. This was influenced by the recovery of the national economy, announced companiesí results of financial activity in nine months of the year (35 listed companies operated profitably), the decision of the Lithuanian Government on the privatisation project of AB Lietuvos Dujos, permits issued by the Competition Council of the Republic of Lithuania for Bryggerigruppen A/S to acquire an 86.6% stake of AB Kalnapilis and for Snavesta and Vinvesta, subsidiaries of Hermis Funds Management, to acquire up to 100% of SnaigÎ and Vilniaus Vingis shares as well as other market news.
In October, share turnover, amounting to EUR 65.4 million (LTL 237 million), accounted for 85.5% of the total turnover which totalled EUR 76.4 million (LTL 277 million). These turnovers are the largest among monthly turnovers of this year. Besides, they are among the largest turnovers throughout eight-year history of the Stock Exchange.
Block transactions, where blocks of shares were sold, accounted for the greatest part (96%) of the total trading volumes of shares. Share turnovers of four companies were over EUR 2.8 million (LTL 10 million): AB Kalnapilis (EUR 37.8 million (LTL 137 million)) accounted for 58% of the total share turnover, AB Lietuvos Draudimas ñ 9.5%, AB KlaipÎdos J°r¯ Krovini¯ Kompanija ñ 8.8%, and AB AkmenÎs Cementas got 8.1%.
On the central market, share turnovers of four companies exceeded EUR 0.28 million (LTL 1 million). In addition to AB Kalnapilis and AB Lietuvos Telekomas, shares of AB Lietuvos Dujos and AB Kauno Tiltai were also in demand. It is worth noting that the central market share turnover in ten months of 2001 exceeded the annual central market share turnover of the previous year.
