Bulgarian Bourse Indices Lose Ground, Chimimport Lifts Turnover

The SOFIX, which comprises the 20 most liquid shares trading on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE), slid 0.44% to 482.7 points and the broader BG40 index, which tracks the 40 most traded shares on the bourse, skidded 0.53% to 130.59 points.

Turnover, excluding block and other pre-agreed deals, surged to 4.6 million levs ($3.4 million/2.4 million euro) from 1.47 million levs on Friday.

Trade in blue-chip industrial group Chimimport made up more than four-fifths of the session’s turnover.

A total 1,422,031 ordinary and 10,494 preferred stocks of the group changed hands, ending 1.15% and 1.88% lower, respectively, at 2.57 levs and 2.55 levs.

Decliners outnumbered advancers by 49 to 25 and nine shares closed unchanged on Monday.

Four of the 19 traded blue chips rose, one ended unchanged and the other retreated.

Hydraulic equipment maker M+S Hydraulic paced the SOFIX gainers, surging 11.76% to 5.59 levs in a volume of 1,933 shares.

Industrial Holding Bulgaria led blue-chip decliners, falling 4.22% to 2.04 levs in a volume of just 2,398 shares.

The BG-REIT index, tracking the performance of real estate investment trusts, slipped 0.48% to 45.46 points. The bourse's BG TotalReturn30 index, in which companies with a free float of at least 10% have equal weight, dropped 0.85% to 354.33 points.

The Dnevnik 20 index, calculated by local business daily Dnevnik from the share prices of the 20 leading companies in terms of liquidity and market capitalisation, lost 0.68% to 68.81 points.

(1 euro=1.95583 Bulgarian levs)