Baltic stocks capitalization, turnover grow

Continued growth in the price of Eesti Telekom and Hansabank Group last week kept the Baltic List capitalization above 3 billion euros. The list gained 1.3 percent over the week to 3.09 billion euros.

The Baltic List's weekly turnover grew fivefold to 14.7 million euros, 78 percent of which was contributed by Latvian stocks.

In Estonia, the TALSE index gained 3.5 points, or 1.7 percent.

"The week had a slow start but ended fairly briskly on an upbeat note," Hansabank Markets trader Romet Tepper said. "Investors kept their attention on Hansapank and Telekom shares, in which Western investors' interest is still very much in evidence."

Prices are inching up, he said, as investors remain moderately optimistic about December and the new year.

Turnover of Latvian stocks made them leaders on the Baltic market thanks to major sales of shares in the shiping company Latvijas Kugnieciba, oil terminal Ventspils Nafta and pharmaceuticals maker Grindex.

Of the three, only the Grindex deals marked an actual change of ownership.

Latvijas Kugnieciba share price fell 4 percent over the week to 0.24 lats (0.40 euros) amid fears that the EU might introduce a register of unsafe tankers and pull down Latvijas Kugnieciba stocks even lower.

In Lithuania, leading blue chip Lietuvos Telekomas was top of the class on the stock exchange last week, but its trading volumes and share price moved lower compared with the previous week.

The pharmaceutical firm Sanitas and shipper Lisco Baltic Services were also at the center of investor interest, while most other stocks closed on a dull note.

The bourse's benchmark price index Litin-10 was flat throughout the week.

Some traders said Telekomas started to lose ground following the withdrawal from the market of a big foreign buyer, who had been actively buying into the stock recently.