Global Stock Market Up This Week Driven By Optimistic Market Sentiment

The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) compiled by BLOMInvest Bank on a daily basis recorded a weekly downtick of 0.08% to reach 1,789.378 on September 15, 2023, down from 1,790.754 on September 8, 2023. The market capitalization on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) decreased weekly from $18.54B to $18.33B. The average volume and value of trades also totaled 94,695 shares worth $6,968,481 compared to 163,625 shares worth $12,758,353 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 99.58%, while the banking and industrials sectors grasped the remaining 0.03% and 0.40% shares respectively.  The most noteworthy trades throughout the mentioned period included:

• Solidere (A) shares dropped by 0.58% to settle at $76.95/ share
• Solidere (B) shares contracted by 0.26% to settle at $77.40/ share
• HOLCIM Liban plunged by 10.14% to settle at $62/share
• Audi GDR retreated by 3.57% to settle at $1.35/share

As for the BLOM Preferred Shares Index (BPSI), it remained constant at 39.62 by September 15, 2023.

The Arab stock market showed a better performance this week mainly driven by higher oil prices. MSCI increased weekly by 0.88% by September 15, to stand at 982.11 while S&P Pan Arab recorded a slight drop of 0.05% to reach 925.37 by the end of the week. Moreover, the bourse of Egypt, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia expanded respectively by 0.92%, 0.30% and 0.29% while the bourse of Qatar and Kuweit contracted respectively by 0.48%, and 0.08%, by September 15, 2023.

Despite higher-than-expected August inflation in the US, S&P 500 and NASDAQ increased respectively by 1.21% and 1.29% to stand at 4,505.10 and 13,926.05 by September 15, compared to the previous week. In fact, data showed China’s output and retail sales grew at a faster pace which reflected signs of stabilizing parts of the unsteady economy.

In the same token, European stock markets recorded a better performance this week as DAX Germany and FTSE 100 added respectively 2.23% and 4.08% to stand at 15,962.86 and 7,719.76 on September 15, 2023. In contrast, CAC 40 registered a weekly drop of 1.23% to end up the week at 1,416.80 down from 1,434.39 previous weeks. Moreover, NIKKEI Japan recorded a weekly uptick of 2.84% to stand at 33,533.09 on September 15, 2023.