The Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) opened Monday morning’s session “in the red”, with all stock market indices declining after the results of the first round of the presidential elections put pro-Russian Calin Georgescu in first place. The BET index has been de-correlated since the summer (July 24, 2024) with the evolution of the US stock indices, with which it has recorded a relatively close evolution in recent years. This indicates a decreasing buying pressure from foreign investors and even a possible more sustained presence in the sale. An example is the trading session of November 19: both BET and the US indices started to sell aggressively around 16:00, Romanian time. The US market recovered, however, during the US stock market session, while the Bucharest stock exchange closed at 18:00 local time with a minus of 1.6%. Although it outlined a slight recovery the next day, this failed to be sustained. BET is now down more than 10% from its significant high on July 24, which coincides with the high on July 24, 2007, and marks a 17-year cycle. In comparison, U.S. stock indexes have continued to rise since the summer and are up more than 25% year-to-date. All this dynamics indicate a possible de-risking process for the local market (emerging markets in general) of external managers, in the context of several risks looming on the horizon for Romania and the stock markets in general, from 2025 onwards. However, a 10% correction for BET is healthy after the massive almost vertical rally started in November 2022.
Romania was formally designated the 43rd country to join the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) on Friday, January 10. According to the Romanian ambassador to Washington, Andrei Muraru, Romanian citizens will be able to travel to the US without the need for a visa starting March 31, 2025. "Romania becomes the first country in the […]
Cluj-Napoca, the city in Romania with some of the highest rents and a fast-growing IT industry, is closer to banning smoking in playgrounds and parks after mayor Emil Boc expressed his support for the measure. The mayor cited the prioritization of public health as the reason behind such a ban. He mentioned that he has […]
Romania's Sibiu County Emergency Clinical Hospital will receive a robotic system to prepare cytostatic drugs needed by cancer patients, along with other equipment, after the County Council obtained funds from the European Regional Development Fund. With an estimated value of EUR 1 million, the "Robotic Composition System for Sterile Preparations of Cytostatic Drugs" is among […]
Romania’s government adopted in its January 10 meeting a decision granting an extra day off to public sector employees at the beginning of May. Thus, Friday, May 2, will be an official day off for public sector workers, linking the legal holiday of May 1 (Labor Day) with the weekend (May 3-4). This...
The Ministry of Environment announced that 2024 was the hottest year in the history of Romania's meteorological records. Red alerts for heat waves began in June of 2024, with the longest consecutive periods of persistent and intense heat waves, six consecutive days, between July 13-18 and August 15-20. "The year 2024 is the hottest year...
Supporters of former presidential candidate Călin Georgescu gathered outside the Parliament Palace in Bucharest, which houses the Constitutional Court, on January 10, demanding a rerun of the second round of the presidential elections. The protest, dubbed "The Great Judicial Union," was initiated by Georgescu, who called on his supporters to challenge the election annulment, as […]
