Daily Insight-Hryvnia appreciates, stocks down, 1Q10 business expectations in focus

On Monday, the hryvnia appreciated, although only marginally, on the Ukrainian FX market, with, according to UkrDealing, trading opening at 7.915-7.925/USD, the same rate as Friday\'s close, and closing at 7.91-7.925/USD, with the strongest point reached during the day of 7.8913/7.925. The NBU again bought dollars at the rate of 7.925/USD. The NBU kept its official exchange rate for hryvnia at 7.9258/USD for Monday. The hryvnia depreciated marginally on the cash FX market, trading at 7.8725/USD for bid offers at the domestic interchange stations, and 7.9198/USD on ask offers. Ukraine\'s stock markets fell on Monday, snapping a lengthy recent winning streak, on negative sentiment at the global markets due to the GS case, with the PFTS index off 1.94%, to end the day at 993.31 points, and the UX stock exchange down 1.23%, to 2,523.94 points. Total turnover on the PFTS was down nearly 2x from Friday\'s level, at US$27.37m (UAH216.96m), which comprised equity trading (5.91% of the total), state bonds (93.97%), and corporate bonds (0.11%). The total amount of securities traded on the UX stock exchange, however, was up from Friday\'s level, at US$13.2m (UAH104.8m).