Activity on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) rebounded during the week ended February 24 with the number of shares changing hands rising to 71,996 shares from 27,884 shares in the week before and value traded increasing to $4.43 million compared to $1.17 million a week earlier. Trades were mainly concentrated in real estate sector stocks, which accounted for 93.06% of weekly traded volume.

The average daily traded volume rose to 14,399 shares during the concerned week, from 6,971 shares in the week before with the average daily traded value also increasing to $0.89 million, from around $0.29 million a week earlier.

Two gaining and one losing stock were screened throughout the week, lifting the BSE’s market capitalization up by 3.56% week-on-week to around $15.98 billion and the Credit Libanais Aggregate Stock Index (“CLASI”) higher by 3.79% to 1,695.18, a new year-high.

In the real estate sector, trades mainly consisted of Solidere “A” and “B” shares (88.79% of weekly traded volume), with the price of Solidere “A” rising by 2.46% week-on-week to $68.60 and that of Solidere “B” increasing by 9.45% to $71.20. On the other hand, the price of Ciments Blancs Nominal shares dropped by 12.07% w-o-w to $12.75. Consequently, the Credit Libanais Construction Sector Stock Index (“CLCI”) closed Friday’s session 4.70% higher on a weekly basis at a new year-high of 3,502.60.

In the banking sector, Byblos Bank listed shares amassed the highest concentration of trades (6.94% of total BSE traded volume) with a thin turnover ratio of 0.001%. The Credit Libanais Financial Sector Stock Index (“CLFI”) remained flat w-o-w at 528.26 as the prices of banking sector stocks remained constant week-on-week.

The market-cap weighted average price to book value (P/BV) multiple of listed stocks ended its week higher at 5.358 based on the closing prices of Friday’s session, up from 5.074 in the previous week.