Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) activity saw a sharp decline during the week of November 1 with the number of shares changing hands dropping to 68,376 shares from 178,731 shares in the week before and value traded increasing to around $4.41 million compared to $2.77 million a week earlier. Trades were mainly concentrated in real estate sector stocks, which accounted for 66.65% of weekly traded volume.

The average daily traded volume fell to 13,675 shares during the concerned week, from 35,746 shares in the week before while the average daily traded value increased to $0.88 million, from around $0.55 million a week earlier.

Two gaining and two losing stocks were screened throughout the week, lifting the BSE’s market capitalization up by 0.68% week-on-week to around $22.29 billion and the Credit Libanais Aggregate Stock Index (“CLASI”) higher by 0.70% to 2,427.08.

In the real estate sector, trades mostly consisted of Solidere “A” and “B” shares (65.79% of weekly traded volume) with the price of Solidere “A” decreasing by 1.42% week-on-week to $96.95 and that of Solidere “B” rising by 2.83% to $96.45. In addition, the price of Ciments Blancs Nominal shares soared by 75.00% w-o-w to $35.00. Consequently, the Credit Libanais Construction Sector Stock Index (“CLCI”) closed Friday’s session 0.96% higher on a weekly basis at 5,154.27.

In the banking sector, Byblos Bank listed shares amassed the highest concentration of trades (27.79% of total BSE traded volume) with a thin turnover ratio of 0.003%. The Credit Libanais Financial Sector Stock Index (“CLFI”) closed Friday’s session 0.43% lower w-o-w at 748.21 amid the 3.57% contraction in the price of Byblos Bank listed shares to $0.81.

The market-cap weighted average price to book value (P/BV) multiple of listed stocks ended its week higher at 7.589 based on the closing prices of Friday’s session, up from 7.461 the week before.