"Deteriorating sentiment" blamed for 5% slide on WIG 20

The Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE)'s WIG 20 index of the twenty largest listed corporations in Poland closed down 2.1% at a three week low of 1,372, losing 5% since Friday. The Polish market, which is one of the best performers in the region this year so far, jumped 20% in January as local pension funds and foreign investors hurried to buy heavily discounted blue-chips, ex pecting cuts in interest rates and an economic rebound. "The deteriorating sentiment in the United States has had its impact on the Warsaw bourse and the market may fall further after breaking several support levels recently," said Grzegorz Zaniewski, an analyst at Kredyt Bank's brokerage in Warsaw. By next Thursday most large WSE-listed companies are to unveil their fourth quarter unconsolidated results, revealing to what extent Poland's economic slowdown and high interest rates depressed corporate earnings last year. (Reuters) A.K.