MOL and Magyar Telekom held their AGMs on Thursday. The following proposals were approved: Dividend of Ft508 ($2.80) and Ft70 (40˘) per share, respectively, abolition of the golden shares and stricter bylaw articles that protect against hostile a take-over.
On Friday (Apr 27), the US announced the figures of the first quarter GDP, which increased at a 1.3% annual rate, the slowest pace in four years.
The main reason for this slower growth was the weak housing market. Wall Street economists were disappointed, as the expectations were that GDP would grow at 1.8% in the quarter, versus a 2.5% pace of growth in the fourth quarter.
In addition to this, the first-quarter GDP price index, an important inflation component, rose at an annual 4%, the most in 16 years, busting the forecast for a rise to 3.2% from 1.7% last quarter.
The overall message of the report seemed to be slower growth paired with higher inflation - and that is not very friendly to stock investors.
However, after the figures showed the week economic growth, the reaction was pretty muted, with the exception of the dollar which slumped further to its lowest level yet against the euro, and also fell against the Japanese yen.
The most optimistic investors have kept buying equities, as they feel that the numbers will have little effect on yields on US Treasury securities, because the larger-than-forecast gain in prices could offset weaker-than-forecast growth, suggesting the Federal Reserve will not move interest rates up or down in coming months.
The US dollar is at its all time low against foreign currencies. For example, the forint has been trading at Ft179-180 against the American currency. The forint also remains strong against the euro, as it has been trading in the Ft245 range .
European stocks hit new six-and-half-year highs last Thursday (Apr 26), boosted by record levels in the US stock market and a large number of updates from some of Europe's top companies, including Bayer and France Telecom (Europe's second-largest telecommunications company.)
The German DAX Xetra 30 index is near its record historical high as well as French CAC 40. The BUX, or Hungarian index, remains strong, even though it has seen higher closing prices in the past weeks.
The BSE had a short trading week, as the market was closed both Monday (Apr 30) and Tuesday (May 1).
