Industrial Holding Bulgaria, TBS boost blue-chip index, turnover nearly doubles

The SOFIX inched up 0.09% to 613.90 points, as IHB rose 2.94% to 2.10 levs and TBS Group added 2.59% to 13.85 levs.

The BGBX40 index, which tracks the BSE's 40 most traded shares, closed 0.25% lower at 141.67 points, dragged down by a 5.81% loss in Industrial Capital Holding [BUL:HIKA] and a 5.56% drop in Stara Planina Hold [BUL:SPH] to 8.50 levs.

Among constituents of the BGTR30 index, in which companies with a free float of at least 10% have equal weight, the loss in Stara Planina Hold was offset by the gain in IHB and TBS, thus keeping the index flat at 738.78 points.

The BGREIT index, which tracks seven real estate investment trusts, retreated the most on the fourth trading day of the week, by 0.91% to 184.01 points. It was pushed down by a 4.03% slide in Bulgarian Real Estate Fund REIT [BUL:BREF] to 2.38 levs.

The most liquid stock on Thursday was municipal heating company Toplofikatsia-Ruse [BUL:TPLR], which closed 1.74% at 3.50 levs. As many as 116,000 shares changed hands in a block trade, generating turnover of 406,000 levs.

Total turnover on the main market of the BSE rose to 2.07 million levs ($1.07 million/1.05 million euro) on Thursday from 1.04 million levs on Wednesday.

(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)