Bulgarian Share Indices Slip, Turnover Drops

The SOFIX index, which comprises the 20 most liquid shares trading on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE), gave up 2.63% to end at 478.3 points after inching up 0.28% on Friday. The broader BG40 index, which tracks the 40 most traded shares on the bourse, fell 1.37% to 131.87 points after a 0.88% gain in the previous session.

Turnover, excluding block and other pre-agreed deals, dropped to 3.6 million levs ($2.7 million/1.8 million euro) from 9.6 million levs on Friday when it was lifted by hefty trade in blue-chip drug maker Sopharma. Some two million shares of Sopharma changed hands on Friday, closing 0.46% higher at 4.17 levs.

On Monday, Sopharma was traded in a volume of 80,552 shares, off 1.7% at 4.1 levs.

Fallers outnumbered gainers 54 by 28 and 15 stocks closed unchanged.

Eighteen out of 20 blue chips traded with only two breaking higher while the rest closed in the red. Lender First Investment Bank was the top SOFIX decliner, falling 5.82% to 3.01 levs in a volume of 104,694 shares.

Industrial conglomerate Chimimport, also a blue chip, was the most trade stock. A total 341,343 of the company's ordinary shares and 315,469 of its preferred shares changed hands, ending 2.50% and 2.49% lower, respectively at 2.53 levs and 2.51 levs.

The BG-REIT, which tracks the performance of real estate investment trusts, lost 1.81% to 47.79 points and the BG TotalReturn30 index, in which companies with a free float of at least 10% have equal weight, closed 2.04% lower at 360.43 points.

On Friday, the BG-REIT ended 1.16% higher and the BG TotalReturn30 advanced 0.79%.

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, skidded 1.25% to 69.67 points after slipping 1.18% in the previous session.

(1 euro=1.95583 Bulgarian levs)