The Beirut Stock Exchange Closed the Week in the Red
The Beirut Stock Exchange regressed this week following two weeks of positive movement, as the real estate sector illustrated a lackluster performance. The BLOM Stock Index (BSI) declined by 1.40% to end the week at 1,156.00 points. The average traded volume fell from 154,085 shares to 143,963 shares while the average traded value declined from $1.74M to $1.16M this week. As for the market capitalization, it dropped from $9.74B to $9.60B this week.
However, the BSI managed to outperform its regional peers, as the S&P Pan Arab Composite Large-Mid-Cap Index, the Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Index (MSCI), and the S&P AFE 40 Index slumped by 3.40%, 3.69% and 2.74%, respectively.
Furthermore, performances were bleaker when looking at the region, as no Arab Bourses saw gains during the week. This was mainly caused by the weekly 11.32% slump of the price of Brent crude oil. The biggest losing Arab stock market was Dubai with a weekly decline of 8.10% followed by a 4.43% and 4.39% drop for the Qatari bourse and Saudi bourse, respectively.
Back to the Beirut Stock Exchange, the banking sector captured 62.05% of the total traded value during the week, the real estate sector grasped 37.43% while the industrial sector took-up a marginal 0.52%.
In the banking sector, GDRs of BLOM and Audi shares gained a weekly 1.04% and 0.83% to end the week at $9.72 and $6.05, respectively. In addition, the listed shares of Audi increased by a weekly 1.69% to $6.00.
As for the performance of preferred shares, the BLOM Preferred Shares Index (BPSI) lost 0.09% to 105.75 points. This was mainly due to Byblos preferred shares 2009, which declined by a weekly 1.08% to 100.60. In contrast, Byblos preferred shares 2008 and Bank of Beirut preferred shares class “H” improved by 0.40% and 0.57% to end the week at $101.50 and $26.50, respectively.
In the real estate sector, Solidere A and B shares declined over the week by 8.81% and 9.38% to close at $10.46 and $10.34, respectively.
In the industrial sector, HOLCIM shares slid by 2.47% to $14.60.
The performance of the Beirut Stock Exchange, over the coming weeks, might depend on the upcoming festive season in addition to investors closing their year-end-books and rebalancing their portfolios.
