| 17/2/2023 | 10/2/2023 | % Change | |
| BLOM Stock Index | 1,502.570 | 1,470.366 | 2.19% |
| Average Traded Volume | 10,327 | 21,688 | -52.38% |
| Average Traded Value | 430,866 | 1,369,740 | -68.54% |
This week, the BLOM Stock Index (BSI) compiled by BLOMInvest Bank on a daily basis recorded a slight rise of 2.19% to reach 1,502.57 on February 17, 2023. The market capitalization on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) increased weekly from $15.06B to $15.40B. The average volume and value of trades also totaled 10,327 shares worth $430,866 compared to 21,688 shares worth $1,369,740 last 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 99.04%, while the banking sector grasped the remaining 0.96%. The most noteworthy trades throughout the mentioned period included:
As for the BLOM Preferred Shares Index (BPSI), it remained constant at 41.01 by February 17, 2023.
In the Arab region, oil prices decided the course of the markets in the GCC especially after the US inflation remained elevated which fueled fears of its impact on demand and prices. in details, S&P Pan Arab index added 0.58% on a weekly basis to stand at 916.46 by February 17 while MSCI index slightly dropped by 0.25% to reach 1011.14 compared to 1013.67 last week. Meanwhile, the bourse of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE added respectively 2.08%, 1.31% and 0.35% by the end of this week. However, the bourse of Egypt, Morocco, and Bahrain dropped by respective 0.71%, 0.67%, and 0.07% by the end of week February 17, 2023.
As for the US equity market, market recovered by the end of week February 17, 2023, despite expectations of steeper US rate hikes which could wipe away corporate profits in 2023. As such, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ increased by 0.01% and 1.18% on a weekly basis to stand at 4,090.41 and 11,855.84 respectively by Friday February 17, 2023.
In the same token, equity market in Europe ended the week on a positive note despite hawkish Fed’s talk. However, inflation in the Eurozone remains an issue as well as although German PPI fell 1% on the month in January but still representing an annual rise of 17.8% above the 16.4% expected. DAX index added 0.39% to stand at 15,367.48 on February 17, 2023, while CAC 40 jumped by 2.49% on a weekly basis to end the week at 7,307.15 up from last week 7,129.73. Meanwhile, FTSE 100 registered an uptick of 1.32% to stand at 7,986.62. In contrast, NIKKEI slightly dropped by 0.57% to stand at 27,513.13 by February 17, 2023, as Japan posted the worst trade deficit of 3.5 trillion yen ($26B) by January.