Banking stocks definitely dominated the trade on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) today. The stocks of First Investment Bank (FIBank) and Central Cooperative Bank (CCB) advanced by nearly 9%, while the stock price of Bulgarian-American Credit Bank (BACB) went up by more than 5%. FIBank's stock ended the day 8.98% higher at 2.43 leva. The traded volume on the position amounted to 20,481 shares. CCB was up 8.64% to 1.17 leva after 47,394 shares traded.

BACB's stock appreciated by 5.42% to 10.70 leva per share. The bank posted 13.5 mln leva consolidated net profit for the first quarter of 2009, down 8.2% year on year.

BACB's credit portfolio went up by 9.0% year on year to 737 mln leva.

KTB's stock price remained unchanged at 65.00 leva per share. The net profit of the bank amounted to 15.49 mln leva for the first quarter.

Lead & Zinc Complex's stock appreciated by 1%, to 10.00 leva per share. A total of 183 shares in the company traded hands on the day. The company booked 1.23 mln leva profit for the first three months of the year, up from 1.03 mln leva a year earlier.

Sopharma's stock price went up by 2.22% to 2.30 leva per share. The traded volume on the position came to 6,804 shares. Medica closed 5.63% up, at 1.50 leva per share. A total of 400 shares were transferred on the day. Medica booked 349,000 leva profit for the first quarter, up by 5% year on year.

Albena was also among today's advancers. The stock of the company added 1.36% to its value closing at 25.39 leva per share. The company posted 7.02 mln leva non-consolidated loss for the first quarter of the year, compared to 7.3 mln leva loss for the year-ago period.

Eurohold Bulgaria's stock ended today's session at 1.24 leva per share, up by 9.74% compared to the opening price. Euroins advanced by 4.79%, to 1.60 leva per share on the day.

A total of 19 788 shares in Alcomet traded hands today. The stock appreciated by 1.35%, to 1.50 leva per share.

Chimimport was up 4.68%, to 2.17 leva per share, while Synergon skidded 2.12% lower, to 1.85 leva per share.

The SOFIX blue-chip index advanced by 2.81%, to 345.98 points on the day. The broader BG40 closed 1.32% up at 97.17 points, while BG TR30 gained 2.48%, to 255.59 points. BG REIT ended the day 1.23% lower, at 39.31 points.

BSE's overall turnover came to 9.83 mln leva. A total of 82 issues were traded on the day with 42 of the companies posting stock price gains.