Global Stocks Set For Best Start Of Year On Record On Inflation

This week, the BLOM Stock Index (BSI) compiled by BLOMInvest Bank on a daily basis recorded a rise of 1.79% to reach 1,419.467 on January 13, 2022. The market capitalization on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) increased weekly from $14.292B to $14.55B. The average volume and value of trades also totaled 22,803 shares worth $746,242 compared to 4,811,478 shares worth $4,897,528 last week.

On the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE), the banking sector grasped the lion’s share of the BSE’s trading value with a stake of 71.42%, while the real estate sector grasped the remaining of 28.58%. The most noteworthy trades throughout the mentioned period included:

• Solidere (A) shares jumped 3.26% to settle at $61.75/share
• Solidere (B) shares increased 1.6% to settle at $60.5/share
• Holcim added 0.32% to settle at $31.10/share
• BEMO shares dropped by 4.17% to settle at $1.15/share

As for the BLOM Preferred Shares Index (BPSI), it remained constant at 41.01 by January 13, 2023.

In the Arab region, major Arab bourses recorded overall a better performance this week. The S&P Pan Arab index slightly added 0.84% whiles the MSCI index recorded an uptick of 3.49% compared to last week. Moreover, Bourse of Tunisia, Morocco, and UAE added 2.47%, 1.23%, and 0.22% respectively, by the end of this week. Meanwhile, the bourse of Egypt, Qatar and Bahrain dropped by 2.82%, 1.39% and 0.11% respectively by the end of this week.

As for the US equity market, stocks headed for a weekly gain driven by easing inflationary pressure in the US and expectations for less aggressive monetary policy. The market is looking closer to the Fed’s next move as it is expected to downshift to smaller interest rate hikes. In details, S&P 500 added 4.60% while NASDAQ registered an increase of 5.19% on a weekly basis to stand, respectively, at 3,983.17 and 11,001.11 by Friday January 13, 2023.

In the same token, equity market in Europe traded on a positive territory and registered their biggest gains in the first two weeks of the year backed by signs of cooling US inflation, while data showed the UK economy grew unexpectedly in November.  DAX registered an uptick of 4.25% to stand at 15,049.90, whereas CAC 40 added 3.33% to stand at 6,986.81. Similarly, the FTSE 100 progressed weekly by 2.62% from 7,633.45 to 7,833.44 by Friday, January 13, 2022, likewise, NIKKEI index recorded a weekly upturn of 1.16% to end up the week at 26,119.52.