Markets deal blow to Baltic stocks

  • 2007-08-22
  • By TBT staff
RIGA- Baltic equity suffered across theboard as a result of the confidencecrisis affecting world markets, withthe OMX Baltic Benchmark indexshedding 5.4 percent in the week endingAug. 17. Not one stock on thethree countries' official lists manageda gain over the five-day period.The biggest loss among blue-chipstocks was posted by the PTA Group,Estonia's garment market, whoseshares nosedived 14.8 percent, whileconstruction leader Merko Ehitussaw its stock plummet 11 percent.

"The keyword this week was theglobal decline of stock marketsbrought on by the loan crisis, whichalso affected the Tallinn StockExchange," Mart Veskimagi, equitydirector at SBM Bank, told the BalticNews Service.Estonian stocks, the most dynamicin the Baltics, didn't suffer the negativesentiment globally immediately,but gradually as the week wore onthe prevailing pessimism took holdon the Tallinn Stock Exchange."On Friday [Aug. 17], after theexchange had closed, the U.S. FederalReserve surprised the markets withan unexpected rate cut to ease turbulenceon the world's stock markets,"Veskimagi said. "By now theEuropean and U.S. markets are tradingin positive territory, whichmeans we can believe that trading onthe Tallinn Stock Exchange willresume on a more positive note nextweek," he said.