BLOM Stock Indexup to 891.98 Points for the week of July 16, 2021

The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) compiled by BLOMInvest Bank on a daily basis increased by 1.40% from last week to reach 891.98 on July 16, 2021. The Market capitalization on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) increased from $9.01B to $9.14B on July 16, 2021. Moreover, the average volume and value of trades during the week ending July 16, 2021 totaled 37,110 shares worth $3,332,821 compared to 98,783 shares worth $4,971,120 during last week.

This week, PM- designate Saed Hariri has stepped down from forming a new government after failing to reach an agreement with the President Michael Aoun. This development will add more uncertainty to the Lebanese situation, while the Lebanese lira continues its devaluation and recorded an unprecedented low level close to LBP 23,000/$ at the end of this week.

Regionally, the major Arab markets witnessed an average performance this week. In details, the S&P AFE 40 and S&P Pan Arab index, decreased weekly by 0.12%, and 0.07%, respectively. Meanwhile, the MSCI index increased by 2.45% compared to last week. In the Arab World, the bourse of Egypt, UAE, and KSA were the top gainers this week, and witnessed an increase of 4.02%, 1.08% and 0.99%, respectively, compared to last week. In contrast, the bourse of Qatar was the worst performers for this week declining by 0.91% compared to last week.

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 96.27%, while the banking grasped a stake of 3.012% and the industrial sector grasped a stake of 0.72%. The most noteworthy trades throughout the mentioned period included:

• Audi GDR shares went up by 2.44% to $2.10/share
• Blom GDR Listed shares went down by 1.56% to $3.15/share
• Byblos (C) shares increased by 1.05% to $0.96/share
• Solidere (A) shares went up by 4.19% to $25.34/share
• Solidere (B) shares increased by 3.74% to $25.26/share
• Holcim shares decreased by 10% to $17.73/share
• Ciments Blancs shares decreased by 10.67% to $4.02/share

As for the BLOM Preferred Shares Index (BPSI), remained stable at 45.57 points by the end of this week.

The real sector continues to record a good performance on the BSE. Solidere A and Solidere B shares recorded also an increase in its price this week. Concerning the industrial stock, we can notice the”Holcim” and “Ciment Blancs” shares decreased by approximately 10% both this week. It’s clear that the industrial sector is suffering to secure the necessary raw materials to survive due to the huge depreciation of the national currency, which is sabotaging their production and affect their shares price on the BSE.