Bulgarian Stocks Extend Losing Streak

The SOFIX index, which comprises the 20 most liquid shares trading on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE), dropped 1.85% to 434.09 points after falling 1.2% on Tuesday.

The broader BG40 index, which tracks the 40 most traded shares on the bourse, lost 1.21% to 118.07 points after bucking the decline on Tuesday with a gain of just 0.06%.

Total turnover, excluding block and other pre-agreed deals, rose to 2.6 million levs ($2.0 million/1.3 million euro) from 1.24 million levs on Tuesday. Almost 750,000 levs of Wednesday's turnover was made by trading in corporate bonds.

Fifty-eight shares declined, 22 gained and 11 ended flat.

Just two of the 19 traded SOFIX components rose and the remaining 17 ended in the red.

The top decliner was electric tools producer Sparky Eltos which plunged 7.55% to 1.9 levs in a volume of 1,915 stocks.

Central Cooperative Bank (CCB) and First Investment Bank (FIBank), both blue chips, and drug distributor Sopharma Trading, which is not among the liquid companies on the BSE, traded most on Wednesday.

A total of 258,266 CCB stocks changed hands, ending 4.45% lower at 1.3 levs. FIBank closed 3.45% lower at 2.5 levs in a volume of 124,662 shares.

Sopharma Trading was traded in a volume of 172,750 shares which lost 4.67% to 1.4 levs.

Two out of the 18 blue chips that were traded on Tuesday advanced, one ended flat and the rest lost ground.

The BG-REIT index, which tracks the performance of real estate investment trusts, ended 0.37% lower at 47.98 points and the BG TotalReturn30 index, in which companies with a free float of at least 10% have equal weight, slid 1.38% to 332.13.

On Tuesday, the BG-REIT dropped 1.07% and the BG TotalReturn30 ticked 0.89% down.

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, decreased 1.83% to 61.61 points after a daily decline of 0.87%.

(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgrian levs)