November 21 (SeeNews) - The Bulgarian Stock Exchange benchmark SOFIX index snapped a three-day losing run on Wednesday, backed by a rally in industrial stocks.
The SOFIX added 0.42% to 589.47 points on Wednesday, as industrial group Stara Planina Hold rose most among blue chips, gaining 3.05% to 6.75 levs during the session and turning to a 2.27% rise for the week.
Car battery maker Monbat [BUL:5MB] followed with a 2.08% rise to 7.35 levs, bouncing back from a 2.04% decrease in the previous trading session.
Stara Planina Hold's associate company and SOFIX peer - hydraulic equipment manufacturer M+S Hydraulic [BUL:5MH], ended the session 0.65% higher at 7.75 levs. The stock is still 3.12% down for the week.
Construction company Trace Group Hold [BUL:T57] suffered another tough session, dropping 4.76% to 2.80 levs - its lowest closing price since July 2012. The company has erased 6.67% of its share price so far this week.
First Investment Bank (Fibank) [BUL:5F4] extended its losing run to three consecutive sessions, after shedding 2.30% to 3.40 levs on Wednesday. Overall, the stock has declined 5.56% since the European Central Bank (ECB) announced last week that it will undertake a comprehensive assessment of the lender, as part of the process of establishing close cooperation on supervision with Bulgaria's central bank.
Trace Group Hold and Fibank also fell most among constituents of two of the BSE's other major indices - BGBX40 and BGTR30.
The wider BGBX40 index, which tracks the 40 most traded shares on the Sofia bourse, appreciated 0.64% to 115 points, backed by a 6.25% increase in the share price of Zarneni Hrani Bulgaria [BUL:T43], which erased some of its losses this week.
However, Zarneni Hrani Bulgaria still ended the session at 0.238 levs, which leaves it 11.85% down for the week.
Drug trader Sopharma Trading [BUL:SO5] was the second biggest gainer among BGBX40 constituents, with a 5.22% rise to 7.05 levs, followed by Stara Planina Hold and Monbat.
The BGTR30 index, in which companies with a free float of at least 10% have equal weight, closed 0.36% higher at 489.50 points, as Sopharma Trading, Stara Planina Hold and Monbat rose most among its constituents.
The BGREIT index, which tracks the performance of real estate investment trusts (REITs), rose 0.31% to 117.11 points on Wednesday, solely on the back of a 1.60% increase in the share price of Bulgarian Real Estate Fund (BREF) REIT [BUL:5BU].
Total trading turnover amounted to some 642,000 levs ($374,000/328,000 euro) on Wednesday.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)
First Investment Bank AD is among the biggest banks in SEE, for more reference take a look at
Top 100 banks