The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) gained 0.58% over the past week to register 1,174.69 points. The average traded volume and value grew substantially from 71,507 shares worth $724,010 to 215,424 shares worth $3.44M. Accordingly, the market capitalization increased from $9.83B to $9.89B.
The BSI managed to outperform the S&P Pan Arab Composite Large-Mid-Cap Index, the Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Index (MSCI) and the S&P AFE 40 Index which recorded respective weekly losses of 0.29%, 2.27% and 0.68%.
On the regional front, Egypt’s stock exchange was the biggest loser with a 2.89% weekly drop followed by a 1.74% drop for Muscat’s stock exchange. Qatar’s bourse registered the biggest gain of 0.75% followed by a 0.34% uptick on the Saudi Arabian bourse.
Back to the Beirut Stock Exchange, the banking sector captured 93.9% of the total traded value during the week while the real estate sector occupied 6% and the industrial sector 0.1%. BLOM Bank’s listed shares gained 1.05% over the past week to reach $9.6 while the bank’s GDR shares shed 0.99% to settle at $10.00. Bank Audi’s GDR and listed shares both added 0.17% and 0.34% to reach $6.01 and $5.95, respectively.
No weekly change in price was registered amongst preferred shares, leaving the BLOM Preferred Shares Index steady at 105.09 points.
In the real-estate sector, Solidere A shares rose by 1.09% to $11.11 and Solidere B shares gained 4.11% to $11.39.
In the industrial sector, Ciments Blancs Bearer and Nominal Shares grew by 6.06% and 12.73% to settle at $3.50 and $3.10, respectively.
On the London Stock Exchange, Solidere’s GDR shares grew by 0.45% to $11.05 while Audi’s GDR shares declined by 1.67% to $5.90.
For the coming week, it remains to be seen whether trading on the Lebanese Bourse will be affected by the ongoing political deadlock and political tensions.