BSI Down To 1,432.012 amid Weak Transactions

This week, the BLOM Stock Index (BSI) compiled by BLOMInvest Bank on a daily basis recorded a further decrease by 0.08% to reach 1,432.012 on July 15, 2022. The Market capitalization on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) contracted weekly from $14.64B to $14.63B. The average volume and value of trades also totaled 20,306 shares worth $672,017 compared to 36,442 shares worth $2,116,043 last week.

In the Arab region, Saudi Arabia is showing a strong performance in regional terms as developing infrastructure and expanding projects are ahead. As for the UAE market, real estate sector has presented signs of recovery from the pandemic as the economic performance improved due to high oil prices as well as increasing capital and human relocations, especially from Russia. However, the global pressures would remain a major concern for GCC countries.

In details, major Arab bourses recorded a weaker performance as global oil prices dropped this week. As such, the S&P AFE 40, the S&P Pan Arab, and MSIC decreased 0.84%, 1.39%, and 2.91%, respectively compared to last week. Moreover, Bourse of UAE, Morocco, and Tunisia added 1.29%, 0.95%, and 0.72% respectively by the end of this week. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Bahrain decreased by 2.22% and 0.79%, 1.19%, respectively.

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 97.35%, while banking sector grasped the rest of 2.65%. The most noteworthy trades throughout the mentioned period included:

• Solidere (A) shares increased by 0.24% to settle at $62.20/share
• Solidere (B) shares added 0.64% to settle at $63/share
• Audi (GDR) slumped by 6.25% to settle at $1.50/share
• Audi Listed shares plunged by 4.73% to settle at $1.41/share

As for the BLOM Preferred Shares Index (BPSI), no major changes were recorded as the index stood at 40.66 by the end of this week.

The BSI slipped this week amid drops in banks’ stocks. In fact, critical days are facing the banking sector in Lebanon, as the potential rescue plan that was prepared by the Mikati’s government might penalize most of the banks by bearing them most of losses.