Beirut: Shares in Lebanese real-estate company Solidere declined as much as 13 per cent as they traded for the first time since the deadly blast in Beirut's port that killed more than 150 people last week.
Solidere is the largest and one of the most liquid listings on Lebanon's bourse, which has a market capitalization of about $5 billion, similar to those of Mauritius and Malta. Its shares pared losses later in the morning, trading 1.4 per cent lower at $14.01 as of 11:32am in Beirut, with volume of trade more than three times higher than the 30-day average for the same time of the session.
The stock, which trades in US dollars, had jumped over 150 per cent since the start of October, when anti-government protests in the city escalated, as investors saw it as a hedging alternative against surging inflation and the sliding Lebanese pound. By July, it had reached its highest level since 2011.
Solidere rebuilt part of Beirut after the civil war that ended in 1990, and has projects across the city.
