BLOM Stock Index Inched Up for the Second Week

For the second week in a row,the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) registered a gain, albeit small, possibly feeding on the positive vibes from last week’s political dialogues between Lebanon’s different parties. Accordingly, the BLOM Stock Index (BSI) posted a weekly uptick of 0.56% to 1,220.22 points, widening its year-to-date gain to 4.3%. Thus, market capitalization broadened by $57.27M to $10.27B. As for the average traded volume it increased by a weekly 18.88% but remained low at 54,071 shares, while the average traded value lost 27.07% from last week to reach $336,298.

On a comparative scale, the BSI outperformed the Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Index (MSCI) and the S&P AFE 40 Index that posted respective weekly losses of 1.94% and 0.70%. The Lebanese gauge also outpaced the S&P Pan Arab Composite Large-Mid-Cap Index that rose by 0.36% from last week’s level.

Stepping into the Arab bourses, Egypt bourse was the week’s best performer recording a 2.59% progress on gains in the real estate sector and following the approval of the long-awaited investment law that reduces bureaucracy and makes transactions less exposed to legal disputes and changes in governments. Saudi Arabia’s stock market came second and hit a 3 month-high following a weekly rise of 2.18%, partly on improving oil prices. The BSE stood at the third rank and was the last stock exchange to post positive results by the end of this week.  

 

In contrast, the worst performing Arab stock markets were mostly in the GCC with Dubai, Qatar and Abu Dhabi recording respective weekly declines of 3.03%, 2.46% and 2.11%.

Back to Lebanon, activity was equally split between the real estate and banking. The former accounted for 50.22% of overall traded value while the banking sector contributed for the remaining 49.78%.  

Solidere shares ended the week on a positive note. Solidere “A” and “B” shares gained weekly 1.60% and 1.88% to $11.44 and $11.36, respectively.

In the banking sector, BLOM listed shares and Global Depository Receipts (GDR) gained 0.55% and 1.42% to end the week at $9.15 and $10.00, respectively. Byblos listed shares also improved by a weekly 1.19% to $1.70 while Audi GDRs lost 0.41% to $7.22.

As for the BLOM Preferred Shares Index (BPSI), it inched up by 0.03% to reach 106.20 points, up from last week’s level of 106.17 points. The index was boosted by the weekly positive performance of Byblos Preferred 2008 shares that added 0.20% to $102.20.

The continuing political talks and the relatively stable security situation of the country could support the Lebanese bourse’s trading activity in the coming period. 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *