Further Drops in Solidere Pushed the BSI Lower

This week, the BLOM Stock Index (BSI) compiled by BLOMInvest Bank on a daily basis recorded a further decrease by 0.36% to reach 1,377.591 on August 05, 2022. The Market capitalization on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) contracted weekly from $14.17B to $14.11B. The average volume and value of trades also totaled 92,155 shares worth $2,718,656 compared to 128,953 shares worth $2,856,336 last week.

In the Arab region, major Arab bourses recorded a better performance. As such, the S&P Pan Arab and the S&P AFE 40 increased by 1.22% and 0.93%, respectively, while the MSCI dropped by 0.30% compared to last week. Moreover, Bourse of Egypt, Qatar, and Tunisia added 7.90%, 1.94%, and 0.59% respectively by the end of this week. Meanwhile, the bourse of Bahrain recorded a downtick of 0.27% by the end of this 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 95.84%, while banking sector grasped the rest of 4.16%. The most noteworthy trades throughout the mentioned period included:

• Solidere (A) shares decreased by 0.25% to settle at $59.60/share
• Solidere (B) shares retreated by 1.68% to settle at $58.55/share
• BLOM GDR added 0.40% to settle at $2.50/share
• BLOM listed increased by 1.75% to settle at $2.90/share
• Audi listed expanded by 2.14% to settle at $1.43/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 registered a drop for the second consecutive week driven by drops in Solidere stocks. Prices of Real Estate Company kept on recording significant drops as Solidere B ended the week below $59, the lowest in 2 months. As for the banks stocks, they unexpectedly increased and have been traded on higher levels compared to last week, despite the tensions that pushed banks to declare strike by the start of next week.