The election was postponed on Thursday for the sixth time to Dec. 7, to give rival politicians more time for talks focusing on the nomination of the army chief, who has emerged as the only candidate both sides might agree to.

The BLOM stock index  rose to 1,480 points from Thursday's 1,405 points. The A share of real estate market heavyweight firm Solidere surged 11.11 percent to close at $22 and its B share  rose 10.52 percent to $21.95, in levels not seen in more than a year.

"The Lebanese market is directly influenced by the political situation and rose on hopes of a deal in the presidential crisis," said Louis Karam, senior investment adviser with Arab Finance Corporation.

Karam said Solidere was being influenced specifically because investors hoped the real-estate sector would boom after the political deadlock is resolved.

"Solidere is being influenced specifically because it's in the construction sector. When it looked like both sides had agreed on the army chief, all investors immediately began buying Solidere."

Solidere is responsible for the multi-billion dollar development of downtown Beirut. -Reuters