Bulgarian Stock Indices Drop in Rising Volumes

The SOFIX index, which comprises the 20 most liquid shares trading on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE), slumped 2.25% to 407.86 points after inching 0.06% lower the previous day.

The BG40, which tracks the 40 most traded shares on the bourse, decreased 1.54% to 114.33 points after a rise of 0.47% a day earlier.

Total turnover, excluding block and other pre-agreed deals, increased to 2.0 million levs ($1.5 million/1.0 million euro) from 1.4 million levs on Wednesday.

On Thursday 57 shares fell, 20 gained ground and 13 ended unchanged.

Seveventeen out of the 20 SOFIX components traded on Thursday, of which only one closed higher and the rest ended in the red.

The only advancer was lender Corporate Commercial Bank which added 0.69% to 56.9 levs in a volume of 10 stocks.

Fertilizers maker Neochim led decliners, plummeting 9.82% to 25.5 levs as 472 shares were traded.

The BG-REIT index, which tracks the performance of real estate investment trusts, closed 0.6% down at 46.63 points. The BG TotalReturn30 index, in which companies with a free float of at least 10% have equal weight, lost 1.83% to 317.71.

On Wednesday, the BG-REIT ended flat and the BG TotalReturn30 rose 0.37%.

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, dropped 0.89% to 58.84 points.

(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgrian levs)