The European Commission’s two reports on Bulgaria’s progress in fighting corruption and management of European Union funds had almost no impact on trading on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange on July 23.

The contents of the reports had leaked to local media a week earlier and had already been factored in the share prices, which continued on their downward spiral as markets fall deeper into summer slumber.

The Sofix index, which includes the 19 most liquid stocks on the Sofia bourse, fell 1.2 per cent in the five days to July 23 to 1023.11 points, according to BSE data. After a 1.4 per cent drop on July 18, the index edged higher in the following days. The broad BG40 index, which tracks the 40 most liquid companies on BSE, lost 0.1 per cent over the same period to end at 261.16 points on July 23, recording virtually no changes over the previous five days.

Trading volumes remained low and investor sentiment was expected to remain bearish for the immediate future, Gergana Tuleshkova, a broker with Sofia-based Beta Corp brokerage, told SeeNews corporate newswire.

The BGTR30 index, in which companies with a free float of at least 10 per cent have equal weight, posted a slight increase of 0.83 per cent in the five days to July 23 to end at 685.29 points.

BGREIT, the index tracking the performance of real estate investment trusts, also edged higher, ending the five days to July 23 just 0.1 per cent higher at 89.80 points.

The indices have steadily declined throughout the year, their downward march slowing down for a time in May. The Sofix has lost 42.1 per cent so far this year, while BG40 has now dropped 49.6 per cent.