Ukrainian stocks finished mixed on Thursday (Jan 23) as a 1-day truce
was declared between violent street protesters and the government’s riot police
at the request of opposition leader Vitaliy Klitschko; however, the truce looked
set to expire without President Yanukovich agreeing to the main opposition
demand of an early presidential election. The UX index inched up 0.3% to close
at 867 points after heavy losses in the previous two sessions. Top liquid issue
Motor Sich continued to slide, dropping 1.9% to UAH 1735, and Alchevsk Steel and
Azovstal posted respective declines of 1.1% and 0.8%. On the upside, Raiffeisen
Aval and UkrSotsBank added 3.4% and 4.6% respectively after DF Group purchased
Pravex Bank from its Italian owner in an EUR 74mn deal which implies that the
BAVL and USCB stocks are undervalued by at least half. Avdyivka Coke also
corrected upward by 1.4% after an extended run of losses. Outside the UX basket,
Krukiv Wagon slid 3.8% to UAH 16.35, while in London, Ferrexpo and JKX
Oil&Gas were down 1.6% and 2.1% respectively, with the latter ending at GBp
69.50.
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