March 9 (SeeNews) - The Bulgarian Stock Exchange blue-chip SOFIX index plunged 9.52% to 479.5 points as at 14:00 CET on Monday, mirroring sharp declines on global markets.
By that hour diversified group Chimimport [BUL:6C4] led decliners with a 21.3% share price drop, followed by Doverie United Holding [BUL:5DOV], which traded 20.39% lower. Central Cooperative Bank (CCB) [BUL:4CF] and First Investment Bank (Fibank) [BUL:5F4] were also among the top decliners by that hour, losing 13.74% and 13.04%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the London Stock Exchange main FTSE 100 index traded 6.43% lower, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange main DAX index was 6.41% down, while the French stock market CAC40 index had lost 6.67%. US indices suffered similar decreases, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 5.50%, and the wider S&P 500 dropping 5.36% by that hour.
US stock indices were hurt by the Saudi price war on oil, coming at a time when coronavirus fears are already cutting into demand, US financial analysis provider Barron's said. "Investors are caught in a feedback loop of falling stock prices spreading pessimism, and pessimism bringing down stocks," it added.
As at 14:00 CET, the shares of all fifteen blue-chip companies on the Sofia bourse traded lower, with Holding Varna [BUL:5V2] shares losing the least - 2.22%.
The other Bulgarian Stock Exchange indices were also suffering heavy losses by that hour.
The wider BGBX40 index, which tracks the 40 most traded shares on the Sofia bourse, traded 8.02% lower at 97.99 points, while the BGTR30 index, in which companies with a free float of at least 10% have equal weight, was down 5.9% at 462.29 points.
The BGREIT index, which tracks real estate investment trusts, traded 2.34% lower at 132.98 points.
Regulated market trading turnover was higher than usual and amounted to over 2.6 million levs as at 14:00 CET. This compares to total regulated market trading turnover of 1.5 million levs during the full trading session on Friday.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)
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