| 26/11/2021 | 19/11/2021 | % Change | |
| BLOM Stock Index | 1,001.711 | 998.202 | 0.35% |
| Average Traded Volume | 50,398 | 31,087 | 62.12% |
| Average Traded Value | 775,394 | 874,626 | -11.35% |
This week, the BLOM Stock Index (BSI) compiled by BLOMInvest Bank on a daily basis slightly increased by 0.35% reaching 1,001.711 on November 26, 2021. The Market capitalization on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) witnessed an increase from $10.21B to $10.26B. The average volume and value of trades also totaled 50,398 shares worth $775,394 compared to 31,087 shares worth $874,626 last week.
In more details, the country is always surprising us with continuous new crises. As lately removing subsidies on fuel imports pushed all prices higher. However, this situation might be eased once the US-backed action to supply Lebanon with natural gas out from Egypt would take place in early 2022. In this context, Fitch Solutions has stated that Lebanon 2022 consumer outlook will be on a fragile recovery while it believes that household spending in the country would return to growth in 2022 by 6.5% for the first time since 2017. However, their forecasts remain twisted as Lebanon’s vaccination rate would remain below the global average imposing the risk of the authorities to be forced to re-implement movement restrictions at a time the economy cannot withstand such restraints.
Regionally, the major Arab markets witnessed a worst performance this week. The S&P Pan Arab, the S&P AFE 40, and MSCI index all decreased weekly by 2.56%, 2.25% and 1.51%, respectively. Moreover, In the Arab World, the bourse of UAE and Tunisia were the top gainer this week, and witnessed an increase by 1.39% and 0.49%, respectively. Meanwhile, least gainer was Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar with a drop of 4.51%, 1.86%, and 1.41% each.
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 96.04%, while banking and the industrial sectors grasped the rest with stakes of 3.69% and 0.27%, respectively. The most noteworthy trades throughout the mentioned period included:
As for the BLOM Preferred Shares Index (BPSI), it remains the same at 44.99 by the end of this week.
While major financial markets are considered to be free-floating, led almost unconditionally by supply and demand, the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) seems always to move in inverse correlation with the Lebanese Pound. As for this week in Lebanon, the BSE showed a mild recuperation as the LBP/USD exchange rate further depreciated to a new low level standing at 25,050 LBP/USD. Looking at the monthly performance, BSE stood at 994.300 on October 26, 2021 at a time the Lebanese exchange rate was ranging between 20,400 and 20,475 LBP/USD. Moving to today’s data, we can clearly conclude that investors’ appetite is led by the fluctuation of the national currency recorded on the parallel market with Real Estate shares grasping the biggest volume traded.