The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) gained a marginal 0.06% over the week to reach 1,172.01 points. Accordingly, the market capitalization rose from $11.54B last week to $11.55B, this week.
In fact, an average of 49,302 shares worth $516,508 was traded during this week compared to 82,036 shares worth $942,583 last week.
The S&P Pan Arab Composite Large Mid Cap Index and the S&P AFE 40 registered weekly upticks of 0.58% and 0.19%, respectively, while the MSCI Emerging Markets Index lost 1.6% this week.
Regionally, the week’s largest gainers were Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, and Abu Dhabi bourses which respectively rose by 2.83%, 1.24% and 0.77%. Meanwhile, the biggest losers of the week were the financial markets of Bahrain, Kuwait, and Dubai which respectively lost 1.59%, 1.45%, and 1.49% over the past week.
On the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE), the banking sector grasped 74.27% of the week’s total traded value, while the real estate and the industrial sectors each grasped a stake of 25.65% and 0.08%, respectively.
In the banking sector, BLOM Bank’s GDR and listed shares declined by a weekly 2.9% and 2.08% to end the week at $12.04 and $11.7, respectively. Meanwhile, Bank Audi’s GDR and Listed shares rose by a weekly 6.9% and 0.16% to $6.2 and $6.12, respectively. Moreover, Byblos Bank’s listed shares grew by an incremental 0.63% to $1.61, this week.
As for the BLOM Preferred Shares Index (BPSI), it rose by a weekly 0.16% to 106.71 points on the back of a 0.10%, 0.49%, and 0.10% rise in the prices of Byblos Preferred 08, Byblos Pref. 09, and BEMO Pref. 2013 shares, to $102.2, $103, and $104.70, respectively.
In the real estate sector, Solidere A and B shares both registered weekly growth rates of 0.74% and 2.63%, to end the week at $8.14 and $8.2, respectively.
In the industrial sector, HOLCIM’s listed shares gained 1.69% to $15.
On the London Stock Exchange, BLOM Bank’s GDR shares slipped by 0.83% to $11.9 while Bank Audi’s GDR shares rose by a weekly 6.67% to $6.4, respectively.
The week’s main highlight was the Cabinet approving the proposed national infrastructure investment program due to be presented at the CEDRE Conference in April 2018 in Paris. The outcome of the conference itself, alongside Lebanon’s first legislative elections in nine years set for May 2018 remain the main factors determining the future of the Lebanese bourse’s performance.