Tunis Stock Exchange — Basic Materials Rise 1.19% Even as TUNINDEX Falls 0.65%
Basic materials stocks outperformed the Tunis market on Wednesday, with the sector index up 1.19% while the TUNINDEX lost 0.65%. SOTRAPIL jumped 5.2% and SITS gained 4.5% as a weaker dinar and still-elevated oil prices reshaped sector positioning.
|6 min read
On Wednesday, June 17, 2026, the clearest split on the Tunis Stock Exchange today was not between gainers and losers, but between sectors: the Basic Materials Index rose 1.19% to 8,591.56 points while the TUNINDEX fell 0.65% to 18,308.84 points. That outperformance was driven by SOTRAPIL, up 5.2% at 30.92 TND, and SITS, which gained 4.5% to 3.97 TND, even as the broader market posted 31 decliners against just 22 advancers.
Key figures
- TUNINDEX: 18,308.84 (-0.65%)
- TUNINDEX20: 8,097.23 (-0.80%)
- Basic Materials Index: 8,591.56 (+1.19%)
- SOTRAPIL: 30.92 TND (+5.2%)
- Market breadth: 22 up / 31 down / 22 unchanged
Market context: broad weakness, but not across every pocket
The broader Tunisia stock market remained under pressure on Wednesday, with the TUNINDEX20 down 0.80% at 8,097.23 points, showing that larger caps weighed more heavily than mid-sized names. Market breadth, at 22 stocks up, 31 down and 22 unchanged out of 75 listed names, points to a consolidation session rather than a disorderly selloff. Financials were a major drag: the Banking Index fell 0.83% to 13,513.64 points, the Financial Services Index slipped 0.26% to 26,020.15 points, and the Financial Companies Index lost 0.75% to 14,512.87 points.
That pressure was visible across heavyweight lenders, with BIAT down 1.1% at 157.2 TND, BNA off 2.1% at 18.5 TND, STB lower by 1.3% at 5.9 TND, and ATB down 4.6% at 4.35 TND. This matters because banks remain the backbone of the Tunis market: when the sector drops close to 1% in a single session, it becomes difficult for the headline index to stay positive, even if a handful of sectors hold up.
Macro conditions help explain that selectivity. Brent crude stood at $80.04 a barrel, up 1.4% on the day but down 8.3% over the week. For Tunisia, a net energy importer, oil still above $80 keeps pressure on the import bill and subsidy arithmetic, even if the weekly pullback offers some relief. At the same time, the U.S. dollar traded at 2.912 TND (+2.51%) and the euro at 3.3752 TND (+2.34%), mechanically raising the local-currency cost of imported energy, raw materials and equipment. In any serious Tunisia market recap, that combination of elevated oil and a weaker dinar usually encourages rotation toward names seen as more asset-backed or less exposed to immediate consumer margin pressure.
Basic materials: the day’s standout pocket
That is why basic materials emerged as the strongest sector, up 1.19%, even as the broader Industrials Index fell 0.66% to 2,454.42 points and the Construction and Building Materials Index slipped 0.45% to 826.86 points. The divergence is important: investors were not buying the entire industrial complex indiscriminately. They were targeting specific names capable of decoupling from the broader market.
SOTRAPIL posted one of the sharpest gains on the exchange, rising 5.2% to 30.92 TND. In a global environment dominated by oil-flow headlines, U.S.-Iran talks and renewed focus on Strait of Hormuz risk, hydrocarbon transport infrastructure naturally attracts attention. Even though Brent is down 8.3% over the week, major physical traders such as Vitol, according to the global headlines cited in the market backdrop, argue that oil markets may still be underpricing supply risks. For a stock like SOTRAPIL, that backdrop can support tactical interest because energy transport assets are often reassessed through the lens of flow security and strategic relevance.
The 4.5% rise in SITS to 3.97 TND reinforces the idea that investors were rotating into selective, potentially undervalued names rather than chasing index beta. When the TUNINDEX index is down 0.65%, a move of more than 4% typically signals more than random noise. It suggests targeted repositioning into stocks less correlated with banks and consumer demand. SOTIPAPIER added 2.6% to 2.79 TND, while AIR LIQUIDE TSIE gained 3.1% to 188.1 TND. On the other side, SOTUVER fell 1.6% to 26.85 TND and Ciments de Bizerte dropped 2.7% to 0.73 TND, showing that strength within the segment was selective rather than broad-based.
Why the move matters for sector performance in Tunis
Wednesday’s session is a useful reminder that Tunis stock exchange sector performance can diverge sharply from the benchmark when macro signals become more complex. A dinar down 2.51% against the dollar and 2.34% against the euro does not hit every listed company equally. Heavy importers face rising input costs, while companies tied to infrastructure, tangible assets or narrower value chains can sometimes hold up better.
The contrast with consumer-facing sectors was clear. The Food and Beverage Index fell 1.08% to 18,860.08 points, the Consumer Goods Index dropped 0.89% to 14,359.88 points, and the Household and Personal Care Products Index edged down 0.06% to 3,608.28 points. SFBT, one of the market’s most closely watched names, lost 2.4% to 14.06 TND, while Land’Or fell 1.6% to 16.4 TND. Those sectors are especially sensitive to imported inputs, domestic purchasing power and the ability to pass inflation through to end-prices. When the currency weakens, margin resilience becomes a central issue.
Other segments sent a similar message. The Distribution Index slipped 0.30% to 11,258.36 points, the Consumer Services Index fell 0.30% to 7,145.92 points, and the Insurance Index eased 0.06% to 26,250.98 points. In that context, the 2.2% rise in Assurances Maghrebia to 71.0 TND, after the listing of shares from its capital increase as reported by Webmanagercenter, looked more like a stock-specific move than a broader sector trend.
Regulatory flow still matters on BVMT
On the regulatory front, the Conseil du Marché Financier said it was taking part in the annual seminar of the Francophone Institute of Financial Regulation focused on operational resilience and cybersecurity across financial markets. While the announcement had no immediate measurable price impact on Wednesday, it is still relevant for BVMT watchers: in a market with limited sell-side coverage, CMF filings and official notices remain a core part of the information flow. That is especially true for investors following Tunis stock exchange today beyond simple price action.
Another regulatory notice concerned CDC Gestion-EF31/12-2025. With no fuller financial details in the verified dataset, it would be overstated to draw a broader market conclusion from that item alone. Still, the presence of regulatory news on the same day as a clear sector rotation underlines a basic truth about Tunis: reading the market properly requires combining macro, company-specific and regulatory signals. For a recent related move on the exchange, see Bourse de Tunis — Cellcom bondit de 5%, les télécoms défient un TUNINDEX en repli de 0,22%.
What to watch next
The next question is whether basic materials can keep outperforming while the TUNINDEX still shows a strong 36.13% year-to-date gain, versus 39.75% for banks and 43.38% for both distribution and consumer services. The key variables now are straightforward: Brent around $80, the USD/TND at 2.912, and upcoming CMF filings or company disclosures. In Tunis, where sector rotations can be fast and concentrated, those three markers will help determine whether Wednesday’s move in basic materials was only a one-session rebound or the start of a more durable reshuffling inside the market.
