Trading on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) was subdued in the five days to August 20, with summer calm ruling the market. BSE indices lost more ground, mirroring developments on world markets, to shed the brief gains from the August 15 session.

“The session was not a positive one; compared with other markets in the region and across the world, however, we fared better,” Konstantin Abrashev, portfolio manager at BenchMark Asset Management, told SeeNews corporate wire on August 19.

The Sofix index, which includes the 19 most-liquid stocks on the Sofia bourse, fell 1.04 per cent in the five days to August 20 to 1024.5 points, according to BSE data. The broad BG40 index, which tracks the 40 most-liquid companies on the BSE, lost 1.21 per cent over the same period ending at 252.34 points on August 20.

Turnover remained low, a typical trend for August on the BSE, with anticipation for the first-half consolidated results, which Bulgarian listed companies have to announce by the end of this month, Gergana Tuleshkova, a broker with Sofia-based Beta Corp brokerage, told SeeNews.

The BGTR30 index, in which companies with a free float of at least 10 per cent have equal weight, posted a decrease of 1.46 per cent in the five days to August 20 to end at 662.43 points.

BG-REIT, the index tracking the performance of real estate investment trusts, posted the highest drop, ending the five days to August 20 2.61 per cent down at 86.12 points.

The indices have steadily declined throughout the year, their downward march slowing down for a time in May and then hitting another plateau at end-July. The Sofix has lost 40.8 per cent so far this year, while BG40 has now dropped 51.3 per cent.