Exceptional week in Lebanon, Post Parliamentary Elections

20/5/202213/5/2022% Change
BLOM Stock Index1,239.9331,065.68216.35%
Average Traded Volume56,78985,877-33.87%
Average Traded Value1,650,4781,803,792-8.50%

This week, the BLOM Stock Index (BSI) compiled by BLOMInvest Bank on a daily basis recorded a significant increase by 16.35% to reach 1,239.93 on May 20, 2022. The Market capitalization on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) increased weekly from $10.92B to $12.71B. The average volume and value of trades also totaled 56,789 shares worth $1,650,478 compared to 85,877 shares worth $1,803,792 last week.

After Sunday’s election result, Lebanon is witnessing for the first time in a really long period a significant shift in the balance of power in the 128-seat parliament. As a matter of fact, Lawmakers who for many decades were constant figures in Lebanon’s political equation were unseated and new faces, inspired by the country’s 2019 revolution, were elected. Despite the positive shift, the value of the Lebanese pound against the United States Dollar, has further plummeted, the Foreign reserves of the central bank are diminishing, and petrol and food prices continue to soar amidst fears of both fuel and wheat shortages.

In the Arab region this week, the S&P Pan Arab and S&P AFE 40 index decreased by 1.29% and 1.96% respectively, whereas the MSCI index jumped by 2.74%. Moreover, this week the bourse in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain recorded a decrease by 3.17%, 3.14% and 1.92, respectively, while the bourse in UAE witnessed a rise by 2%.

On the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE), the real estate sector grasped the biggest share of the BSE’s trading value with a stake of 95.74%, while industrial stock grasped 1.76% and the banking sector grasped the remaining of 2.5%. The most noteworthy trades throughout the mentioned period included:

  • Solidere (A) shares increased by 27.98% to settle at $49.58/share
  • Solidere (B) shares jumped by 26.05% to settle at $48.48/share
  • HOLCIM shares jumped by 11.33% to settle at $23.38/share
  • Audi shares jumped by 5.26% to settle at $1.8/share

As for the BLOM Preferred Shares Index (BPSI), no major changes recorded during the period as it stood at 41.54 by the end of this week.

This week, the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) witnessed a very strong performance driven by the continuous increase of the real estate stocks (Solidere A and Solidere B). In fact, Solidere A and B remained the central relief of major investors, while their shares reached their highest levels of $49.58 and $48.48 respectively. In parallel, the Lebanese Lira against United States dollars has further deteriorated this week reaching LBP 31,450/USD on May 20, 2022. It seems that depositors, who are looking to protect the value of their assets from further devaluations, manage to liberate their money from banks by purchasing Solidere stocks. In this sense, it is interesting to note that Solidere stock has increased from around $5/ share in October 2019 and has risen by more than $10 this week alone.

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