South East European stock markets closed mostly higher on Friday after a volatile trading week with investors assessing the outlook for inflation and interest rates.
The National Bank of Serbia hiked its key interest rate by 50bps to 2%, the second back to back rise in borrowing costs, and a more aggressive move than analyst forecasts of a 25 bps hike. The central bank said inflationary pressures continued to be stronger than expected, and the move aimed to contain 2nd round effects and price expectations.
In Romania, the central bank has revised upwards its annual inflation rate forecast to 12.5% for the end of 2022 and to 6.7% for the end of 2023. More positively, the Foreign Investors Council (FIC) Business Sentiment Index report showed that one in two foreign investors in Romania have investment budgets for 2022 matching at least the level in 2021.
1. ATHENS – ATHEX 2.43%
2. BELGRADE – BELEX15 -0.37%
3. BUCHAREST – BET 0.58%
4. ISTANBUL – BIST 100 1.18%
5. LJUBJLANA – SBITOP 1.63%
6. NICOSIA – CSE GI -0.10%
7. PODGORICA – MNSE 10 0.00%
8. SARAJEVO – SASX10 0.01%
9. SKOPJE – MBI 10 -0.15%
10. SOFIA – SOFIX -0.36%
11. ZAGREB – CROBEX 0.42%
