The SOFIX index, which includes the 20 most liquid stocks on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE), gained 1.76% to 618.46 points, and the broader BG 40 index, which tracks the 40 most traded shares on the bourse, rose 2.97% to 166.52.
“The index levels and [the prices of] the most liquid companies at the moment suggest increased buying activity,” Borislav Simeonov, a broker at Delta Stock, told SeeNews.
The Bulgarian stock market ended the week in the black after plunging more than 20% last week, shadowing a global slump.
In case some calm is restored to the international markets, and especially U.S. equity prices, the Sofia stock indices will settle around the current levels and may even rally, Simeonov said.
Industrial conglomerate Chimimport, lenders First Investment Bank (FIBank) and Bulgarian American Credit Bank (BACB) and drug maker Sopharma were among the most traded on Friday, he added.
Sopharma surged 5.73% to 2.28 levs in a volume of over 40,000 shares and Chimimport added 0.99% to 4.07 levs with over 66,600 shares changing hands.
FIBank rose 5.09% to 3.87 levs in a volume of almost 92,000 shares and BACB ended flat at 23 levs in a volume of some 215,000 shares.
On Friday, gainers led losers by 57 to 34, and eight stocks ended unchanged.
BSE's turnover, excluding block and other pre-agreed deals, rose to 8.6 million levs ($5.9 million/4.4 million euro) from 5.2 million levs on Thursday.
The BG TotalReturn30 (BG TR30) index, in which companies with a free float of at least 10% have equal weight, added 2.34% to 429.06 points and the BG-REIT index, tracking the performance of real estate investment trusts, retreated 3.1% to 62.60.
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, advanced 4.48% to 83.4 points.
Simeonov said that investors will start looking at the nine-month financial reports due by the end of October, which may bolster trading over the next two weeks.
(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)
