WSE loses early gains after American Airlines plane crashes in New York

The Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) responded to the crash of an American Airlines jet in the New York borough of Queens just as American and other European stock exchanges did, with a downturn. The fate of future stock exchange levels will depend on an official determination of the cause of yesterday morning's New York crash. It is expected the market will plunge deeper if the cause is assigned to terrorist actions, but recent indications from the US authorities point to mechanical failure. The key WIG 20 index of leading companies, up some 0.5% before the crash, closed down 1.3%, while the TechWIG index fell by 2.4% with ComputerLand and ComArch leading the fall. The usually stable Pekao fell by 1.7%, and PKN Orlen by 2.1%. At the same time, as a consequence of the crash, the zloty strengthened against the US dollar, ending the day's trading at zl.4.0675. (Parkiet, p. 10; Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 18; Reuters) M.T.