Activity on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) gained momentum during the week ended March 3 with the number of shares changing hands rising to 91,690 shares from 71,996 shares in the week before and value traded increasing to $5.30 million compared to $4.43 million a week earlier. Trades were mainly concentrated in real estate sector stocks, which accounted for 76.44% of weekly traded volume.

The average daily traded volume rose to 18,338 shares during the concerned week, from 14,399 shares in the week before with the average daily traded value also increasing to $1.06 million, from around $0.89 million a week earlier.

Two gaining and one losing stock were screened throughout the week, lifting the BSE’s market capitalization up by 12.05% week-on-week to around $17.90 billion and the Credit Libanais Aggregate Stock Index (“CLASI”) higher by 12.81% to 1,912.33, a new year-high.

In the real estate sector, trades mainly consisted of Solidere “A” and “B” shares (76.17% of weekly traded volume), with the price of Solidere “A” rising by 19.83% week-on-week to $82.20 and that of Solidere “B” increasing by 12.57% to $80.15. On the other hand, the price of Holcim Liban shares dropped by 2.64% w-o-w to $31.30. Consequently, the Credit Libanais Construction Sector Stock Index (“CLCI”) closed Friday’s session 15.74% higher on a weekly basis at a new year-high of 4,053.95.

In the banking sector, Bank Audi GDRs amassed the highest concentration of trades (17.45% of total BSE traded volume) with a thin turnover ratio of 0.013%. 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 6.361 based on the closing prices of Friday’s session, up from 5.358 in the previous week.