Ukrainian stocks fell in line with the main European indices on Thursday (May 23) as investors around the globe fretted about an early “tapering” of the Federal Reserve’s bond-buying program. However, local equities, as well as those in Frankfurt and London, finished well off their intraday lows as sentiments recovered somewhat late in the session. The UX index lost 2.5% to close at 850 points, with blue chips down across the board. CentrEnergo (CEEN) and Azovstal (AZST) slid 3.6% and 3.1% respectively to lead the decline, while Motor Sich (MSICH) was down 2.2% on volume of UAH 5.3mn. Yenakievo Steel (ENMZ) outperformed the rest of the UX basket, edging down 0.3% to UAH 33.40. In London, Ferrexpo (FXPO LN) was harder-hit than other issues due to softer-than-expected Chinese data, selling off by 8.8% to near GBp 175; the top Ukrainian name listed in Warsaw, Kernel (KER PW), shed 3.6% to PLN 56.
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