Bulgarian Stock Indices Slip in Higher Turnover

The SOFIX index, which comprises the 20 most liquid shares trading on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE), fell 1.51% to end at 468.97 points and the broader BG40 index, which tracks the 40 most traded shares on the bourse, shed 2.16% to 128.38 points.

On Thursday, the SOFIX lost 0.82% and the BG40 edged down 0.30%.

Turnover, excluding block and other pre-agreed deals, rose to 2.009 million levs ($1.49 million/1.03 million euro) from Thursday’s 1.58 million levs.

Just three of the blue chips closed higher and the rest fell. Fertilisers maker Neochim led the blue-chip gainers, after being the biggest loser on Thursday. Neochim added 4.55% to 36.60 levs in a volume of 220 shares. On Thursday its shares closed 4.09% lower.

Lead and zinc smelter OTZK led the blue-chip decliners on Friday, falling by 4.84% to 14.75 levs in a volume of 2,064 shares.

Industrial holding group Industrial Holding Bulgaria and First Investment Bank , both part of the blue-chip index, were the most traded stocks on Friday, as 121,864 shares of the holding and 109,292 shares of the bank changed hands. The holding's shares fell by 4.72% to 2.14 levs, while the bank’s shares closed 1.40% lower at 2.88 levs.

The BG-REIT index, which tracks the performance of real estate investment trusts, fell by 1.87% to 49.24 points, after advancing 1.7% on the previous day. The BG TotalReturn30 index, in which companies with a free float of at least 10% have equal weight, lost 2.26% to 355.39 points, after inching down 0.93% on Thursday.

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, fell by 2.64% to 67.97 points, after losing 0.94% the previous day.

(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)