The Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) reversed its upward trend this week, with the BLOM Stock Index (BSI) dropping 0.57% to 1,182.88 points. The average traded volume and value grew from last week’s 200,699 shares worth $1.38M, to 318,416 shares worth $2.32M. Accordingly, the market capitalization decreased from $10.02B to $9.96B.
The BSI however managed to outperform the Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Index (MSCI) which lost 1.54%. Meanwhile the S&P Pan Arab Composite Large-Mid-Cap Index and the S&P AFE 40 Index gained weekly 0.42% and 0.37%, respectively.
On the regional front, the top performing bourse was the Egyptian bourse which gained 4.31% and was followed by the Dubai bourse which grew by 2.42% and the Abu Dhabi bourse which added a weekly 1.87%.
The BSE was the worst performer, followed by Qatar and Bahrain, with weekly losses of 0.54% and 0.07%, respectively.
Back to the Beirut Stock Exchange, and in the banking sector, Audi listed shares were the only common shares to close in the green with a 3% weekly upturn to $6.19, partly due to the release of their financials which revealed a positive performance during the 1st half of 2015. In contrast, BLOM listed shares, Audi GDR share, and Byblos listed shares dropped 1.03%, 3.06%, and 0.62% to end the week at $9.6, $6.01, and $1.6, respectively.
On the other hand, the preferred shares exhibited a progress, where the BLOM Preferred Stock Index (BPSI) added a weekly 0.23% to 104.85 points. In details, the preferred shares of Audi class “G”, Byblos 08, and BLC class “A” improved 0.4%, 1.3% and 1.1% to $100.5, $101.5, and $101.1, respectively. Similarly, Bank of Beirut Preferred shares class “H” added 0.39% to $25.6. Byblos preferred 09 shares were the only preferred shares to end the week in the red, sliding by 0.2% to $100.7.
In the real-estate sector, Solidere shares classes “A” and “B” dropped 4.28% and 1.81% to close at the same price of $11.4, despite the company’s optimistic expectations for its H1 results as stated during the analyst day, which it holds annually for equity analysts and capital markets agents.
In the industrial sector, HOLCIM shares lost 1.97% to $14.90.
For the coming week, the BSI will probably be affected by the mid-year results of the listed banks, which are expected to be released during the week.