SOFIA (Bulgaria), October 31 (SeeNews) – Bulgarian stocks ended mostly lower on Wednesday as investors found the nine-month financial results of some companies disappointing and the market is likely to cool next month before picking up again, brokers said.
The SOFIX index tracking the 17 most liquid shares on the Sofia bourse lost 0.44% to 1,934.45 points and the broad BG 40 index slid 1.58% to 606.82 points.
“Apparently the results of some companies were below investors’ expectations,” Svetozar Abrashev, broker at First Financial Brokerage House (FFBH), told SeeNews.
He said aluminium producer Alcomet was among those companies. Its stock shed 7.0% to a close of 20.1 levs in a volume of some 5,540 shares.
Abrashev said the market was likely to cool down in November before picking up the following month as most companies are expected to post good financial results. Bulgaria’s stock market has posted a series of record highs since the beginning of the year, bolstered by the country's accession to the EU on January 1, which lured many foreign investors.
Among gainers on Wednesday were fuel retailer Petrol and drug maker Sopharma, which rose on their good nine-month results, Abrashev said.
Petrol closed 3.3% higher at 4.7 levs in a volume of about 16,900 shares and Sopharma gained 2.0% to 9.3 levs with some 43,550 stocks changing hands.
On Wednesday, 96 shares fell, 68 rose and 12 closed flat.
BSE's turnover rose to 20.4 million levs ($15.1 million/10.4 million euro) from 19.9 million levs on Tuesday.
BSE's BG TotalReturn30 (BG TR30) index, in which companies with a free float of at least 10% have equal weight, lost 0.31% to 1,224.34. The BG-REIT index, which tracks the performance of real estate investment trusts traded on the stock exchange, gained 0.49% to 105.04.
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, closed 0.54% lower at 308.54 points.
(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)