Indices on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) ended higher on August 21 in calm trading amid positive sentiments and are likely to remain mostly stable in the upcoming week or two, brokers for SeeNews wire agency said. The blue-chip Sofix index of the 16 most liquid shares on the BSE edged up 0.18 per cent to 1554.06 points, while the broader BG40 index rose 1.18 per cent to 399.84 points.

Nothing significant happened. “There is a positive trend on the stock exchange and the upwards movement was general rather than due to particular shares,” Iva Radicheva of Ug Market brokerage told SeeNews. On August 21, 63 shares went up, 47 fell and 16 ended flat.

Radicheva said no dramatic movements were expected within a week or two unless some piece of news stirred up the market.

Among the shares that gained on August 21 were paint and coating maker Orgachim and power tool manufacturer Sparky Eltos, which on August 20 said building and construction material retail chain Travis Perkins would sell its products in the UK, starting in September. Shares in Sparky Eltos rose 2.43 per cent to close at 18.07 leva on a volume of some 13 300 shares, while Orgachim ended 3.3 per cent higher at 470 leva on a volume of about 200 shares.

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, gained 0.42 per cent to 230.47 points.

Turnover on the BSE fell to 9.2 million leva from 12.4 million leva on August 20. On that day the BSE indices rebounded in line with the recovering global markets after recent falls prompted by fears over credit markets in the US. In total 68 shares rose, 38 fell and 13 remained flat. Among the shares gaining in value were holding companies Industrial Holding Bulgaria and Eurohold Bulgaria, and cable and conductor manufacturer Emka. Industrial Holding Bulgaria ended 4.6 per cent higher at 12.5 leva on a volume of 8300 shares, while Eurohold Bulgaria closed at six leva, up 8.5 per cent on volume of about 25 000 shares. Shares in Emka rose 2.7 per cent to 15.3 leva with about 7100 shares changing hands. Turnover on the BSE on August 20 fell to 12.4 million leva from 2.8 billion leva on August 17, when a deal for 90 per cent of the country’s dominant fixed-line telecoms operator BTC lifted turnover. The Dnevnik 20 index appreciated 2.88 per cent to 229.5 points.

Meanwhile, the shares of Advance Terrafund were announced as a winner of the “share of the week” award for the week starting August 13. The award is organised by the financial website investor.bg. The shares of the company, which invests in agricultural lands, saw a 7.84 per cent increase reaching a level of 2.20 a share.

In another separate line of developments, two new indices are scheduled to launch on the BSE on September 3. Companies specialising in real estate investments will be included in the calculation of the BG REIT (real estate investment trust) index. The base value of the BG TR30 index will be set at 1000 points. Its performance will reflect the return from investment on a certain number of companies.