The Macedonian Stock Exchange closed the week of 21-25 September with turnover of 98.1 million denars, or about 1.59 million euros, 25.1% more than the week before. More money changing hands, but no higher prices: shares in the three most-traded banks ended the week deep in the red.

Stopanska Banka Skopje lost 8.33% of its value, NLB Banka 7.88% and Komercijalna Banka 7.87%. Only three stocks finished in positive territory: Ading up 3.96%, Automakedonija up 3% and Makpetrol up a token 0.01%. Five stocks fell.

The biggest share of turnover, 51.8 million denars, went to Komercijalna Banka - more than half of the whole week. Of that, 36.7 million denars, or about 597,600 euros, came from two block trades in which 1,483 shares changed hands. Next were Alkaloid with 17.4 million and Universal Investment Bank with 4.4 million denars. There were 441 transactions in total, 60 fewer than the previous week.

On Friday the MBI10 index fell 0.68% to 8,724.39 points.

Three banks dropped by almost the same percentage in the same week, and the weekly reports record the numbers but not the cause. A big shareholder selling, profit expectations, or something else entirely? The reports don't say a word about it. On a small exchange where two block trades make up more than a third of the weekly turnover, that's a question that deserves an answer - especially for the small shareholders holding those stocks.