The two main indices of the Zagreb Stock Exchange, Crobex and Crobex10, rallied on November 16, with the Crobex10 reaching its highest level since before the pandemic-induced crash in March.
Data from the ZSE show that the Crobex was up by 1.96% to 1,673 points on November 16 to reach its highest level since mid-June. The Crobex10 rose by 1.88% to 1,048, a level not seen since early March.
The rise in prices follows news of breakthroughs on vaccines against the coronavirus (COVID-19).
On November 16, the US company Modena said trials showed its new vaccine against COVID-19 is nearly 95% effective. Major international indices including the FTSE100 and Dow Jones jumped on the news.
That followed the announcement that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is over 90% effective. The developers of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine also say theirs is around 92% effective.
Croatia was among the worst-hit economies in the EU and emerging Europe regions given its dependence on the tourism sector. The launch of large-scale vaccination programmes by next spring would mean a rebound for its tourism sector next summer.
The revival in Croatian stocks also came after Moody’s decision to upgrade Croatia to Ba1, just one notch below investment grade.