The indices of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE), which have been groping for direction this week, were painted green on Wednesday but turnover was just BGN 600,000.

SOFIX of the blue chips moved ahead by 3.82 points, or 1%, to 362.65. The broader BG40 also added 1% to finish the session at 103.96 points. BGTR30 of the stocks with the highest market capitalisation and liquidity inched up 1 points to 273.68, an increase of 0.4%. Only the sector index BGREIT closed in negative territory, off to 38.34 points.

First Investment Bank (FIBank) was yesterday’s best performer in terms of volume, producing almost one-third of the total turnover with BGN 188,000. It ended flat at BGN 1.81 per share.

The runner-up by volume was industrial conglomerate Chimimport, which saw shares worth BGN 136,000 change hands to go up by 2.38% to BGN 2.15 apiece.

Drug maker Sopharma, resort operator Albena, and Doverie United Holding each generated between BGN 30,000 and 50,000. Albena rose the highest, by 6.74%, to BGN 57 per share.

The two major deals in FIBank and Chimimport drove up the daily turnover, said Tsvetoslav Tsachev, head of research at Sofia-based Elana Trading.

Cautious analyst forecast prevented any big moves by global indices. Some predicted the US economy is facing double recession, and the Wall Street Journal reported that many investors remain uncertain despite the good signals.