Bulgarian Stock Indices End Higher in Small Volumes

The SOFIX index, which comprises the 20 most liquid shares trading on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE), added 0.45% to 444.5 points. The broader BG40 index, which tracks the 40 most traded shares on the bourse, inched 0.26% higher to 121.47 points.

Total turnover, excluding block and other pre-agreed deals, dropped to 736,000 levs ($564,000/376,000 euro) from 1.1 million levs on Friday.

On Monday, gainers outnumbered decliners 31 to 28 and six shares ended unchanged from the previous session.

Of the 19 blue chips that were traded on Monday, two closed unchanged, five moved lower and the rest advanced.

ELARG Agricultural Land Opportunity Fund led the gainers among the blue chips, surging 5.26% to 0.8 levs in a token volume.

Lead and zinc smelter OTZK was the most traded blue chip in a volume of 11,751 stocks. It closed 1.4% higher at 14.4 levs.

Lender Corporate Commercial Bank was another actively traded blue chip. It closed unchanged at 60 levs as 550 shares were traded.

Insurer Euroins, part of the broader BG40 index, was of the most liquid stock on Monday as 104,306 of its shares changed hands, ending down 1.97% at 1.69 levs.

The BG-REIT, which tracks the performance of real estate investment trusts, rose 2.59% to 47.89 points and the BG TotalReturn30 index, in which companies with a free float of at least 10% have equal weight, closed 0.26% higher at 339.15 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, gained 0.14% to 64.03 points.

(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)