| 1/4/2022 | 24/3/2022 | % Change | |
| BLOM Stock Index | 989.518 | 964.329 | 2.61% |
| Average Traded Volume | 71,112 | 94,796 | -24.98% |
| Average Traded Value | 1,400,983 | 593,404 | 136.09% |
This week, the BLOM Stock Index (BSI) compiled by BLOMInvest Bank on a daily basis increased by 2.61% to reach 989.518 on April 01, 2022. The Market capitalization on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) increased weekly from $9.88B to $10.14B. The average volume and value of trades also totaled 71,112 shares worth $1,400,983 compared to 94,796 shares worth $593,404 last week.
This week, the government has finally issued the capital control law. However, this law still needs the approval of the Lebanese parliament. The issuance of capital control law is one of several conditions of the IMF in order to unblock the international financial aid. Lebanon still have a long path, as we are now in a very critical period with the election day approaching and the result of it could complicate things more, politically, which may reflect negatively on the economic healing process.
Regionally, the price of oil is fluctuating due to the war between Russia and Ukraine, while the US tries to keep the price controllable, by releasing oil from the strategic reserve. As a result, Arab markets recorded an average performance this week, amid the fluctuation of price of oil. In details, the S&P Pan Arab, MSCI index, and S&P AFE 40 all increased by 1.11%, 0.43%, and 4.38%, respectively. Moreover, the bourse in UAE recorded an increase this week by 6.65%, while the bourse of Egypt decreased by 2.66%.
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 77.78%, while banking sector grasped 21.87% and industrial sector gripped the rest with stakes of 0.26%. The most noteworthy trades throughout the mentioned period included:
As for the BLOM Preferred Shares Index (BPSI), it decreased by 2.53% to 43.85 by the end of this week.
The honeymoon between Solidere and real estate investors has come to an end in 2021, as the financial result of H1 2021 has showed a giant decrease in revenue from land sales by 82.85%. Of course, the depositors and some investors wanted in 2020 to liberate their money from the banks by buying real estate through a banker check, and Solidere wanted to close its debts by accepting banker check as method of payment. In 2021, Solidere has stopped to accept banker check as method of payment which decreased remarkably its sales. As for the company performance on the BSE, Solidere remained strong above 30$ as this stock becomes a tool of hedging against the risk of devaluation of the national currency.