US Equities expanded amid signs of progress from US debt-ceiling talks

The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) compiled by BLOMInvest Bank on a daily basis recorded a weekly increase by 1.54% to reach 1,788.679 on May 19, 2023 up from 1,761.628 on May 12, 2023. The market capitalization on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) increased weekly from $18.05B to $18.33B. The average volume and value of trades also totaled 12,257 shares worth $1,001,652 compared to 22,559 shares worth $1,661,342 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 99.43%, while banking sector grasped the rest of the stake of 0.57% .The most noteworthy trades throughout the mentioned period included:

• Solidere (A) shares increased by 0.49% to settle at $81.75/ share
• Solidere (B) shares increased by 2.05% to settle at $82.05/ share
• Byblos preferred 2009 shares went down by 21.04% to stand at $29.99/share
• Audi Listed shares increased by 13.33% to $1.7/share
• Byblos Listed shares increased by 7.14% to $0.75/ share

As for the BLOM Preferred Shares Index (BPSI), it decreased by 3.39% to stand at 39.62 by May 19, 2023.

In the Arab region, S&P Pan Arab dropped weekly by 0.56% to stand at 934.13 while MSCI fell rose weekly by 0.53% to stand at 978.16 by May 19, 2023. Moreover, the bourse of Morocco, and Tunisia expanded each respectively by 1.39% and 1.18%, while the bourse of Egypt and Kuwait contracted by 3.04% and 2.24%, respectively by May 19, 2023.

In the US, the market expanded this week with investors encouraged by signs of progress from US debt-ceiling talks in Washington.  Accordingly, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ went up this week by 1.79% and 3.29% respectively to stand at 4,198.05 and 12,688.84. In more details, President Joe Biden urged his negotiators to keep pursuing a debt-limit deal after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy indicated that both sides may reach agreement as soon as this weekend to avoid a catastrophic US default. Investors will also be listening keenly to what Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says at a Fed conference in Washington Friday for clues on the central bank’s likely next move on interest rates.

Major European stock markets recorded a better performance this week with the DAX, CAC40 France and FTSE 100 increasing respectively by 2.16%, 1.05% and 0.22% to stand at 16257.10, 7492.59 and 7771.54 respectively on May 19.  Similarly, NIKKEI Japan increased weekly by 4.83% to stand at 30,808.35 on May 19.