After weeks of slow trade, stocks on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) showed some positive development on August 12, which confirms their dependency on world markets.

The Sofix index, which includes the 19 most liquid stocks on the BSE, added 0.89 per cent to 1031.46 points, and the broad BG40 index, which tracks the 40 most liquid companies on the BSE, was up 0.68 per cent to 258.97, SeeNews wire agency said.

The rise of the Sofix, however, was a short-term one and was entirely due to the positive news from global capital markets, Miroslav Rizenov, a broker at United Bulgarian Bank, told SeeNews. Rizanov said that the rise may continue until the beginning of September but a decrease will start after that period. “Foreign investors are testing the water, they are not buying large volumes but still, they are buying,” he said.

Industrial group Chimimport, Industrial Holding Bulgaria and financial group Eurohold Bulgaria were among the most traded companies on August 12, Rizenov said.

Chimimport added 1.7 per cent to 8.36 leva in a volume of 104 832 shares and Industrial Holding Bulgaria rose 2.7 per cent to 6.16 leva with 49 187 stocks changing hands. Also on the upside was Eurohold Bulgaria, which closed at 4.8 leva, up 2.1 per cent in a volume of 15 336 shares.

Insurer Euroins was among the few Sofix components that ended lower on Tuesday. The stock closed at 7.27 leva, down 0.4 per cent with 97 355 shares changing hands.

On Tuesday, 64 shares went up, 31 fell and 14 closed unchanged. The BSE’s turnover, excluding block and other pre-agreed deals, rose to 5.6 million leva from 2.5 million leva on August 11.

As previously reported by SeeNews, the BSE posted significant losses earlier in the year, tracking developments on international markets. In the first half of 2008, the main indices lost all of last year’s gains with the Sofix losing 34.73 per cent and the BG40 dropping 40.84 per cent.