The BLOM Stock Index in the Green this Week as BSE Witnessed Trades on Different Lebanese Sectors

The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) compiled on a daily basis by BLOMInvest Bank added a weekly 1.24% to 612.61 points by the week ending July 03^rd 2020. In fact, the market capitalization on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) increased by 1.2% over the week to stand at $6.3B. It followed that the volume and value of trades this week totaled 1.09M shares worth $2.3M traded, compared to 96,991 shares worth $952,022 traded last week.

Among the leading regional indices, the S&P AFE 40 performance maintained a shy improvement, adding an incremental 0.02% this week, while the S&P Pan Arab Composite Large Mid Cap Index and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index recorded more pronounced upticks of 0.4% and 2.46%, respectively, by July 03^rd. In turn, the top performing equities in the region were the bourses of Abu Dhabi and the KSA which climbed by a weekly 0.61% and 1.1%, respectively, in the week ending July 03^rd. Meanwhile, the bourses of Egypt, Tunisia and Dubai fell by a weekly 1.16%, 1% and 1.2%, respectively.

On the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE), the week witnessed trades across Lebanon’s real estate, industrial, retail and banking sectors, with real estate constituting 59.5% of the BSE’s total trading value. The banking sector in its turn grasped 39.9% of the total value while the industrial and retail sectors composed 0.33% and 0.18% of the total, respectively.

Noteworthy price upticks were recorded in the real estate sector this week, but also in the industrial sector with HOLCIM share also recording an uptick as follows:

• Solidere “A” shares, up by a weekly 17.22% to $14.16 per share.
• Solidere “B” shares added 17.44% to $14.01 per share
• Holcim Liban industrial shares climbed by a weekly 15.68% to $12.1 per share.

Meanwhile, a number of trades mainly on banks’ shares witnessed weekly downticks, with the most notable changes detailed below:

• BLOM GDR shares retreated by 14.3% to $3.00 per share
• BLOM Listed shares fell by 18.99% to $3.37
• Audi Listed shares declined by 1.12% to $0.88
• Byblos listed shares, down by a weekly 25% to $0.45.
• RYMCO shares fell by 2.74% to $3.19

Meanwhile, the Blom Preferred Shares Index (BPSI) saw no change from last week, and closed the week ending July 03^rd at 62.69 points.

In its turn, the London Stock Exchange witnessed a decline in the prices of BLOM and Audi GDR shares this week which fell by 7.14% and 24.4% to stand at $1.3 and $0.31, respectively.

The performance of the BSI in the upcoming week may be impacted in particular by protests which have resurfaced this week and by the progress in the cabinet on: needed reforms, uniting the official figures of the financial system’s losses and/or developments in Lebanon’s talks with the IMF negotiations, noting that the head of the Fund’s delegation explicitly expressed his frustration towards the pace and outcomes of negotiations so far.