The Romanian stock market benchmark – the BET Index – officially crossed the 20,000-point threshold on Tuesday, July 25, 2025, marking a major milestone in its recent surge.
The BET has gained about 7.5% in the last month, setting several new record highs on its path to 20,000 points.
However, the Bucharest Stock Exchange’s recent rally started after the second round of the presidential elections on May 18, 2025, when Romanians voted to stay on the pro-European path. Since then, the BET index has gained almost 20%, which is also its year-to-date performance.
Investors on the Bucharest Stock Exchange were undeterred by the fiscal correction packages announced by the new government led by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan. Despite their likely negative impact on consumption and economic growth, fiscal consolidation measures such as the increase in the VAT rate have averted Romania’s potential rating downgrade to junk and a new surge in financing costs by the state and local companies.
Among the blue-chip stocks traded on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, gas transporter Transgaz (TGN) and industrial group Teraplast (TRP) were the top performers in the last month, each gaining over 22%, followed by telecom group Digi Communications (DIGI) with 17%. The shares of electricity distributor and supplier Electrica (EL) also went up by almost 15% in the last month, while energy producer Nuclearelectrica (SNN) and medical group MedLife (M) saw increases of almost 12%.
At the other end, energy producer Hidroelectrica (H2O), financial group BRD and oil and gas group OMV Petrom (SNP) were among the BET’s underperformers in the last month, with returns of under 4%.
Launched on September 19, 1997, with a starting value of 1,000 points, the BET index currently follows the most traded 20 companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The BET first climbed above 10,000 points in July 2007, but it only stood there for a few months before the global credit crisis broke and took the index below 2,000 points in February 2009.
The BET then broke the 10,000-point threshold in January 2020, just before the COVID pandemic forced another correction. In January 2021, the BET climbed above 10,000 points for the third time and has consolidated above that level, doubling its value in the last four and a half years.
The chart below shows the BET’s evolution from the first time it broke above 10,000 points (in July 2007) to 20,000 points (in July 2025). (Chart source: Tradingview.com)
andrei@romania-insider.com
(Photo source: BVB)
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