Brunswick Direct, a Swedish online brokerage firm, said it added 27 new Baltic shares to the list of companies that can be traded on its site.

Brunswick Direct, a Swedish online brokerage firm, said it added 27 new Baltic shares to the list of companies that can be traded on its site, at www.brunswickdirect.com. Nine Lithuanian, ten Latvian and eight Estonian companies, representing a combined market capitalisation of one billion US dollars, have been added "to offer a comprehensive trading and research coverage of the year's best-performing markets in Eastern Europe," Brunswick Direct said in a statement. Brunswick Direct now offers on-line trading and research in 280 shares and 25 funds in 22 emerging markets at its site. "This is a natural step in the process of expanding our coverage in our core markets, especially since we have seen massive interest from local Baltic investors," said Peter Haakansson, head of equities at Brunswick Direct. "By adding these shares we allow them to have a good local exposure in addition to the diversification they receive by investing in all our other markets." The Lithuanian companies on the Brunswick Direct trading list include Ekranas, Kalnapilis, Lietuvos Draudimas, Lietuvos Dujos, Lietuvos Energija, Lifosa, LISCO, Taupomasis Bankas, Mazeikiu Nafta, Rokiskio Suris, Snaige and Utenos Trikotazas. Lietuvos Telekomas and Vilniaus Bankas, as well as one Latvian and five Estonian companies, were added to Brunswick Direct's list earlier. "Despite their relatively small size, the Baltic markets have been among this year's top performing markets in Europe," the brokerage firm said. Swedish SEB's buyout of Vilniaus Bankas, Latvia's Unibanka and Estonia's Uhispank has buoyed the market, it noted.