Hungarian stocks down 3pc, OTP underperforms

BUDAPEST: Hungary's stock market was down 3.4 percent by 0800 GMT on Friday, with the country's leading bank OTP underperforming the market and falling 5.3 percent to 3,778 forints per share, tracking sharp losses in global markets.

OTP, which reported higher than expected second-quarter profits earlier on Friday, was trading at a two-year low.

"It's obvious that this is due to the international market situation, that's why it's underperforming like this," said Akos Herczenik, analyst at Raiffeisen.

"This is despite the fact that OTP's results looked good and its capital position is outstandingly good, but people on the market are not differentiating right now within the (bank) sector."

Copyright Reuters, 2011