Beirut SE (1 month) Current Year High: 3,470.63 Current Year Low: 1,761.53 The Beirut Stock Exchange felt the influence of international markets just like anyone else. Liquidity and share volumes dried up towards the end of the review period and the BLOM Stock Index ended at 1402.88 points on Oct 24, some 19% down from 1732.24 on the final close Sep 29 before the observation of the Eid al Fitr holidays. Solidere shares had another difficult month and closed at $21 and $21.06 for the two share classes on Oct 24, about one fourth down from their valuations at the start of October. Banking shares declined to $70 for Audi and $83.5 for BLOM, although the banking sector reported improved third-quarter results, which were impervious to the financial markets epidemic that decimated global banking income. The Lebanese banks remained bright because they were barred by the central bank from speculating
