The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) compiled by BLOMInvest Bank on a daily basis dropped weekly by 0.15% to reach 656.88 by the week ending January 8, 2021. The Market capitalization on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) recorded weekly a downtick of 0.16% to reach $6.73B on January 8, 2021. Moreover, the average volume and value of trades this week totaled 26,551 shares worth $300.2M, compared to 216,780 shares worth $1.94M traded last week.
Regionally, the major Arab markets witnessed a better performance this week. In details, the S&P AFE 40 Index, the S&P Pan Arab Composite Large Mid Cap Index and the MSCI increased weekly by 1.75%, 1.27% and 2.41% respectively. In the Arab World, the bourses of UAE were the top gainers this week increasing by 4.28%. End of this week, UAE will be on the verge of resuming its trade relations and airports with Qatar. Moreover, UAE has been providing COVID-19 vaccine to almost 8% of its residents after conducting the phase III trials of the vaccine.
Meanwhile, the bourses of Bahrain and Tunisia were the top losers this week declining by 1.69% and 1.57%, respectively.
On the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE), Lebanon’s real estate sector grasped the lion’s share of the BSE’s trading value with a stake of 97.28%. The banking sector grasped a share of 2.72% and the industrial sector held a negligible share of 0.0011%, respectively. The most noteworthy trades throughout the week included:
As for the BLOM Preferred Shares Index (BPSI), it remained unchanged this week and reached 47.08 points.
Lebanon has registered record of COVID-19 cases reaching 4,774 on Thursday followed by a 3 weeks lockdown phase till end of January 2021. Moreover, the Lebanese pound further depreciated recording USD/LBP rate of 8,700 in the unparalleled market this week before the arrival of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri to Lebanon hoping that the Cabinet formation process will speed up.