Market comment

Обзоры рынка 22.02.2013 Ukrainian equities took their delayed hit from the Federal Reserve’s release of its FOMC minutes, though some stocks in Warsaw proved resilient. Banking shares sent the Ukrainian Exchange (UX) Index falling 1.4%, with Ukrsotsbank (USCB UK -3.8%) and Raiffeisen Bank Aval (BAVL UK -2.7%) in the lead. Donbasenergo (DOEN UK +0.9%) continued to draw interest after the government announced it would sell its majority stake. DOEN shares have increased 8.9% in three straight winning sessions. In Warsaw, the WIG-Ukraine improved 0.6%, propped up by the rebounding shares of sugar producer Astarta (AST PW +1.9%), which are up 6.1% in two sessions, and shares of grain trader Kernel (KER PW +0.4%). In London, shares of mining firm Ferrexpo (FXPO LN) plummeted 9.2% after the company withdrew its planned Eurobond placement, the first Ukrainian company to do so this year. Bank of Georgia (BGEO LN) fell 3.4% after hitting its all-time high in the previous session. On the flip side, shares of egg producer Avangard (AVGR LI) rose 4.2%.