Baltic markets trend together

Last week activity on the three Baltic securities markets was without direction. This was particularly so with price levels, as the main indexes on all three bourses finished the week down, though only slightly. Trading was quiet in Tallinn and Riga but volatile in Vilnius. The Riga Stock Exchange continues to lag behind its neighbors in terms of volume. Even though turnover is strengthening, it is still about one-tenth that of Tallinn or Vilnius.

On the other hand, if Latvijas Gaze's strong performance had been included in the Riga indexes, it would have pulled the market for a gain for the week, and the Riga bourse would have stood out from its neighbors in terms of volume.

Estonia's lead in terms of turnover and performance narrowed last week. Average daily turnover dropped by half last week, with liquid shares leading the decline.

Turnover volume on the Lithuanian National Stock Exchange nearly closed the gap with the Tallinn exchange. This was due to a change in direction regarding the merger of Vilniaus and Hermis banks. News that Vilniaus had abandoned its takeover attempt of Hermis caused trading in both shares to jump.

Estonia's Hansapank sold, through the bourse, the controlling stake in the Panyevezys construction company PST, also contributing to higher turnover.