WSE's rough ride

   It has been a rough ride for the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE), with high-flying technology stocks driving the market up in the first six months. Like in much of the world, though, technology issues and many other stocks came crashing back to earth in the second half of the year.

   In the first week of February, the all-share WIG index equaled its March 1994 all-time high of 21,225 points. But by mid-October, the market had followed NASDAQ's downward trend and sunk to its year low of 14,929 points.

   The WSE has been back up slightly since the late-summer correction as banks and blue-chip stocks rallied and banking group Powszechna Kasa Oszednosci Bank Polski offered shares to the public.

   Generally, however, prices are down. The average p/e ratio (company stock price divided by its earnings per share) for the 122 stocks listed on the main market was 19 at the end of September 2000 compared to an average ratio of 23.6 at the end of 1999. The WIG index is also lower, with 17,088 points on Dec. 13 compared to 18,083 at the end of 1999. The most notable losses for the year were in the food sector, with stocks down 31.4%.

   While the WSE's main market spent years expanding in terms of market capitalization, that figure lost some ground in 2000. The main market's overall capitalization stood at zl. 112.9 billion ($25.7 billion) at the end of September 2000, down 3.7% from the end of 1999.

   As the U.S. economy slows and the dollar looks to weaken, however, foreign traders are already returning to the WSE.

   "In the recent two weeks we have been watching quite a big improvement on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in terms of equities," said Piotr Dudzinski, a broker with Citibrokerage.