Slight Improvement Recorded On The BSE This Week

The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) gained 0.56% to stand at 943.34 points, by the week ending March .01 2019, while the market capitalization rose from last week’s $9.14B to $9.19B to this week.

In fact, trading activity on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) this week improved such that an average of 142,476 shares worth $1.2M were traded this week, compared to an average  46,965 of shares worth $386,353 traded in the previous week.

Regionally, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, the S&P AFE 40 and the S&P Pan Arab Composite Large Mid Cap registered weekly falls of 0.73%, 0.48%, and 0.26%, respectively.

In the Arab World, the bourses of Abu Dhabi, Bahrain were the week’s top gainers adding 0.78%, 0.56% and 0.20% respectively. Meanwhile, the stock markets of Morocco, Egypt, and Tunisia were the biggest losers, registering the respective declines of 2.36%, 2.26%, and 0.86% by the week ending March. 01.

On the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE), the Banking sector grasped 82.63% of the total trading value over the week while the real estate sector and the industrial sector captured the remaining share of 17.31% and 0.06% of total trading activity.

In the real estate sector, Solidere A and B shares rose significantly by 9.35% and 10.07% to stand at $6.55 and $6.56, respectively, this substantial rise have positively impacted the whole index this week.

In the banking sector, BLOM Bank’s GDR shares, BLOM Listed shares, and Byblos Listed shares registered weekly downticks of 1.34%, 0.78% and 1.49% to stand at $8.85, $8.90 and $1.32, respectively.

On the London Stock Exchange, BLOM GDR shares recorded a slight increase of 1.15% over the week to $8.80.

In the industrial sector, Ciment Blancs (N) dropped from $3.50 to $2.75.

As for the Blom Preferred shares Index (BPSI), it rose by 0.22%, closing the week at 86.13 points.

In details, the increase in both, Audi Pref I and Byblos Preferred 08 by 5.89% and 7.14%  to $89.90 and $75.00 respectively outpaced the decrease in  Audi Pref J by 7.78% to $83.

In brief, the fluctuation in the prices of the stocks in the real estate sector is becoming the key factor that is affecting the whole index in the current period.This week’s improvement in both, Solidere A and B shares has led to this slight improvement in the BSI.

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