The Beirut Stock Exchange, reflected by the BLOM Stock Index (BSI), failed to maintain the positive trend of last week; hence the gauge registered a 0.34% drop during this week to stand at 1,143.70 points. Similarly, market capitalization fell to $9.42B, compared to $9.49B during last week.
However, trade activity optimized this week with the average traded volume escalating from last week’s 25,447 shares worth $270,038 to 595,583 shares worth $5,705,918 this week.
When compared to regional indices, the BSI outperformed the Morgan Stanley (MSCI) emerging index which recorded a fall of 0.78%, mainly due to the decline in oil prices this week amid Iran’s talks of increasing oil supply. However, the BSI lagged behind the S&P Pan Arab Composite LargeMidCap Index and the S&P AFE40 which registered respective weekly falls of 0.04% and 0.33%
Regionally, there were no major variations in the countries’ bourses, where the top performers for the week were Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Tunisia with respective gains of 0.75%, 0.56%, and 0.25%.
In contrast, Qatar witnessed the largest fall in its stock index, with a 2.68% drop after the FTSE published a list of stocks to be incorporated in its secondary emerging market index, leaving several stocks overvalued. Also, Abu Dhabi’s and Muscat’s indices slightly dropped by 1.87% and 1.75%, respectively.
The banking sector grasped the largest share of total value traded on the Lebanese Bourse, with a share of 98.57% with only Byblos common shares rising 0.62% to stand at $1.62.
Moreover, the BLOM Preferred Shares Index (BPSI) increased by 0.18% to 104.71 points due to the rise in Audi preferred H shares and BLOM Preferred 2011 by 0.10% and 0.30% to $101.20 and $10.05, respectively. Also, Byblos Preferred 2009 grew 0.80% to $101.00.
As for the real estate sector, which constituted only 0.95% of total traded value this week, both Solidere class “A” and “B” witnessed losses of 1.39% to $9.24 and 3.50% to $9.10, respectively.
The manufacturing and retail sectors also contributed to the total traded value this week with respective shares of 0.16% and 0.32%. In the manufacturing sector, HOLCIM’s prices dropped 2.25% to $13.89, while in the retail sector, RYMCO’s prices rose 0.62% to $3.25.
On the London Stock Exchange, BLOM GDRs and Solidere GDRs observed respective weekly drops of 0.50% and 3.23% to $10.10 and $9.00, while Audi GDRs rose 1.64% to $6.20.
The political deadlock, along with the resurfacing of the waste management crisis will weigh negatively on the performance of the stock market during the coming weeks.