The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) recovered during the week, outperforming its regional peers, the S&P AFE 40 Index, the S&P Pan Arab Composite Large-Mid-Cap Index, and the Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Index (MSCI) which lost 1.15%, 1.61% and 1.69% over the week to 61.71 points, 135.70 points and 971.47 points, respectively.
The BSI ended this week gaining 0.55% at 1,190.35 points. The average traded volume decreased to 98,362 shares from last week’s 103,725 shares, while the average traded value grew from $1.41M to $1.45M, over the same period. The market capitalization expanded by $54.68M to $10.02B.
On the regional front, the BSE was outpaced by Tunisia’s Stock Exchange that gained 1.34% over the week. All other stock markets ended the week in the red, mainly due to the Holy month of Ramadan, with Saudi Arabia’s Bourse recording the biggest weekly decline of 2.47%. Dubai’s Stock Market and Bahrain’s Bourse followed, with respective decreases of 1.40% and 1.32%.
Back to the Beirut Stock Exchange, the banking sector took 89.23% of total traded value, where BLOM GDR shares added 0.10% to $10.01, while BLOM listed shares lost 0.51% to $9.75. The listed shares of Audi and those of Byblos gained 3.83% and 1.25% to $6.23 and $1.62, respectively. Meanwhile Audi GDR shares lost 1.62% to $6.06.
As for preferred shares, the BLOM Preferred Shares Index (BPSI) steadied at 104.70 points.
In the real estate sector, Solidere shares class “A” ended the week with the same price of last Friday at $11.49, while class “B” shares registered a negative performance over the week dropping 0.52% to $11.40.
The Beirut Stock Exchange is expected to continue its see-saw movement over the coming week. As the political status quo extends further, activity on the BSE is likely to remain curbed to slight upward and downward movements, echoing the stagnant activity of the whole economy.