Global Stock Market down This Week Driven By Pessimistic Market Sentiment

The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) compiled by BLOMInvest Bank on a daily basis recorded a weekly downtick of 0.13% to reach 1,790.754 on September 8, 2023 down from 1,793.074 on September 1, 2023. The market capitalization on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) increased weekly from $18.37B to $18.54B. The average volume and value of trades also totaled 163,625 shares worth $12,758,353 compared to 9,649 shares worth $729,654 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 99.9%, while the banking and industrials sectors grasped the remaining 0.01% and 0.09% shares respectively.  The most noteworthy trades throughout the mentioned period included:

• Solidere (A) shares dropped by 0.39% to settle at $77.40/ share
• Solidere (B) shares increased by 3.95% to settle at $77.6/ share
• HOLCIM Liban rose by 0.07% to settle at $69/share

As for the BLOM Preferred Shares Index (BPSI), it remained constant at 39.62 by September 8, 2023.

The Arab stock market contracted this week as S&P Pan Arab and MSCI dropped weekly by 1.6% and 0.69% respectively by September 08, to stand at 925.79 and 973.59. Moreover, the bourse of Egypt and Qatar expanded respectively by 2.66% and 0.42% while the bourse of Saudi Arabia and Morocco contracted respectively by 2.4%, and 1.53%, by September 08, 2023.

In the US, S&P 500 and NASDAQ dropped respectively by 1.25% and 2.04% to stand at 4,451.14 and 13,748.83 by September 08, compared to the previous week. Indeed, stocks declined this week after a stronger-than-estimated reading on the US services industry bolstered speculation the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer.

In the same token, European stock markets recorded a worst performance this week as DAX Germany, CAC40 France, and FTSE 100 dropped respectively 2.02%, 2.11% and 0.89% to stand at 15,614.97, 1,434.39 and 7,417.33 on September 08, 2023. Additionally, NIKKEI Japan recorded a weekly downtick of 0.32% to stand at 32,606.84 on September 08, 2023.