The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) compiled by BLOMInvest Bank on a daily basis increased by 7.77% since March 12, 2021 to reach 814.74 on March 19,2021. The Market capitalization on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) increased from $7.75B to $8.35B on March 19, 2021. Moreover, the average volume and value of trades during the week ending March 19, 2021 totaled 111,979 shares worth $2,273,095, compared to 84,373 worth $1,088,775 during last week.
Regionally, the major Arab markets witnessed worsening performance this week. In details, the MSCI index, , the S&P Pan Arab index, and the S&P AFE 40 Composite index all decreased weekly by 0.76%, 0.21% and 0.09%,respectively. In the Arab World, the bourses of UAE Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Morocco were the top gainers this week, the first increased 2.30%, and the second went up by 1.39, while the third added 1.22%. In contrast, the bourse of Egypt and Saudi Arabia were the worst performers for this week declining by 2.94% and 0.56%, respectively.
The future economic cycle for the Arab world is crowned by higher oil prices, though they have been planning on reducing dependency on oil. Saudi Arabia and the rest of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, enduring significantly less revenue deriving from crude exports, are in the phase of post-COVID pandemic. However, price volatility remains so long as the pandemic effect is being felt. Interesting to note that Saudi Arabia approved privatization plan this week in order to increase the participation of the private sector in the country’s GDP.
On the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE), the real estate sector grasped the lion’s share of the BSE’s trading value with a stake of 96.38%, while the banking grasped 1.79%, and the industrial sectors grasped 1.83%. The most noteworthy trades throughout the mentioned period included:
As for the BLOM Preferred Shares Index (BPSI), it remained unchanged this week at 46.06 points.
This week, Beirut Stock Exchange (BSI) had also an uptick backed on the steady rise of Solidere’s and banks stocks. Since Lebanon’s economy started to deteriorate, Solidere’s stocks have been attracting investors which gave it a boost that it had not seen in years. The deadlock situation in the country has caused people to seek refuge in real estate in a way to unblock their banks accounts and make use of their money. However, the upcoming days are very crucial for the country as a new government is awaited this Monday.