The Bucharest Stock Exchange index dropped by 10% after it opened Monday, over concerns related to the economic effects of the coronavirus spread and a plunge in Asia triggered by price wars between major oil producers Russia and Saudi Arabia.
The shares of Romania’s biggest energy group, OMV Petrom (SNP), plunged by up to 20% in the Monday opening and ended 12.4% down with the company directly hit by the lower oil prices.
Romanian Development Bank BRD shares were 6.7% lower while those of Banca Transilvania dropped by 4.5%.
The ten energy and utility companies plunged by 12.44%
Losses slowed later in the day and BET ended at about 6% below Friday’s closing value.
The crisis also affected the leu which fell to a record 4.8184 to one euro, downing the previous low on February 28.
Stock markets across Europe opened to a downward trend, following a plunge in Asia. The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 6.1 right after stock exchanges opened in London, Paris, and Frankfurt.
Germany’s DAX index fell 7.8 percent after the Frankfurt Stock Exchange opened trading on Monday, and is projected to have its biggest daily drop in 18 years.
London’s commodity-heavy FTSE 100 was down more than eight percent, with stocks of oil companies among those hit hardest by the collapse.
France’s CAC 40 dove 7.7 percent, with oil giant Total and metal maker ArcelorMittal plummeting over 15 percent.
The FTSE MIB index of the Italian stock exchange was down almost 10%, after the Italian Government closed down the northern part of the country to stop the spreading of COVID-19.
