Stock exchanges in Southeast Europe, including the region’s largest and most active bourse in Bucharest, Romania, have been affected by the turbulence in international capital markets triggered by worsening economic conditions in the United States. 

The Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) experienced significant drops in early trading on August 5. The blue-chip BET index fell by more than 3.58% during the first trading session of the week, reflecting the volatility seen on international exchanges. In the initial minutes of Monday's session, the index, which tracks the performance of the 20 most traded shares in Bucharest, depreciated by 2% to 17,955 points.

Major Romanian companies were not immune to the sell-off. Banca Transilvania, Romania's largest bank, saw its shares plummet by 4%. MedLife dropped by 5%, and Transelectrica declined by 7.5% as of 11.30am local time.

The downturn is not limited to Romania. Bulgarian stocks were also hit hard, with the main Sofix index losing 2.3% after trading began. Leading technology stocks on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange suffered even steeper declines, reported Capital.bg, with home innovation company Shelly down about 5% and Sirma Group falling 6%. 

The Bulgarian Stock Exchange's (BSE's) SOFIX index fell on August 5. Source: BSE. 

Similarly, Slovenia's main SBITOP index was down by 4.62% on Monday morning.

The performance of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange's (LJSE's) main SBITOP index on August 5. Source: LJSE. 

The recent slide in US stocks was exacerbated by a disappointing jobs report on Friday, fuelling fears that the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain interest rates may have been a mistake. Concerns are mounting that delayed rate cuts could damage the US economy, raising the spectre of a recession.

Across Europe, stocks began the week in flat or negative territory, with widespread losses reflecting continued global volatility. European indices such as the DAX, CAC 40, and EuroStoxx began the day with losses ranging from 2.5% to 3%. The FTSE 100 suffered its worst drop in over a year. 

Asian markets also endured brutal sell-offs, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 closing down 12.4%, on its worst day since the infamous Black Monday in October 1987.

Across the Atlantic, US futures indicated that the volatility would continue.