Riga - The three Baltic stock exchanges registered small losses overall Thursday, despite a handful of companies seeing sharp falls in their share prices by the close of trading.

The NASDAQ OMX Tallinn exchange in Estonia was down 0.52 per cent, and the Vilnius exchange in Lithuania was down 0.63 per cent, while the Riga exchange in Latvia actually rose by 0.25 per cent.

However, the Baltic Benchmark Index (BBI), which includes data from all three exchanges, dropped by more than 2 per cent to close at 289.76.

Lithuanian companies accounted for all the biggest movers of the day. The worst day was endured by linen producer Linas, down more than 16 per cent. A subsidiary company failed in October and investors have clearly yet to regain confidence in Linas despite it being one of the Baltic region's more significant exporters.

Other companies feeling the pain on the Vilnius bourse included drinks maker Gubernija, down more than 14 per cent and paper manufacturer Grigiskes, which shed more than 13 per cent of its value.

With temperatures across the Baltic states dropping markedly this week, it was perhaps appropriate that the biggest riser of the day was heating and electricity supplier Lietuvos Elektrine, up nearly 15 per cent. (dpa)