Stocks report: Banks up, food down

This was largely due to the positive mood on foreign markets, particularly after better-than-anticipated monthly employment data from the US. A month ago those figures disappointed investors, so many were cautious this time around, but stock-market indices surged on the upbeat data. In Poland, large-cap stocks lead the way, while banks and developers were the best performing sectors.

After credit-crunch worries eased a bit in the US and investors returned to bank shares, Millennium, Getin, BZ WBK and BRE benefited the most. Food stocks lost a lot, due to weakness from Wawel and Duda. Market breadth was also weak, as investors only focused on selected stocks, and this suggests that there are some investors lingering outside the market who prefer to wait a little bit longer.

In the coming weeks, investors will focus more and more on the upcoming parliamentary elections, and most analysts are hoping for a change of coalition partners. Expectations concerning Q3 financial results should also influence investors' decisions, and those stocks which delivered better-than-expected numbers in previous quarters should outperform the market.

Tomasz Jerzyk, technical analyst DM BZ WBK SA