Activity swells at the MSE

The final trading session of the week at the Malta Stock Exchange brought with it a substantial increase in volume and activity.

Banking stocks declined, as sellers still seem to be the major force in the market at the moment. Bank of Valletta shares declined 3c towards the very end of the session to close the day at the Lm4.80c level. HSBC Bank Malta shares too ended the session at that very same level although trading was more substantial with a total of 13,375 shares being exchanged across 12 transactions.

Simonds Farsons Cisk shares had the dubious honour of being the day's top loser. Initially buyers started nibbling at the Lm1 level offers but, when this activity ceased, sellers turned on to the bid side and dumped shares at Lm0.95c.

Malta International Airport shares recovered another penny during yesterday's session to trade at Lm1.33c. Turnover was for 4,242 shares which were exchanged across three transactions. A similar monetary gain was registered by Middlesea Insurance shares which closed at Lm3.31c although activity was almost negligible.

Maltacom shares started trading in the positive, as a partially filled buy order from a previous session was executed at market. But subsequent trades brought the price down to close the day unchanged at Lm1.36c.

FTSE pushes to three-year high

Europe's bourses climbed to a new three-year high as oil prices rise towards $57 a barrel helped oil stocks buoy markets. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 rose 0.4 per cent to 1,142.29, having climbed above 1,142.77 at one point. The Xetra Dax added 0.5 per cent to 4,600.08, the CAC-40 rose 0.5 per cent to 4,207.78.

Wall Street stock indices inched higher by the close of trading after a lacklustre morning when below-forecast economic data were viewed as benign and corporate news offered a mixed backdrop for trading.

Boosted by a strong performance from the heavyweight oil and mining companies, London equity markets pushed to a fresh three-year high by the end of morning trade yesterday, following "tripple-witching" - the expiry of futures and options contracts.

Investors' enthusiasm was also fired by the largest flotation on the London market so far this year with Inmarsat making a strong start on its debut. The FTSE 100 rose 33.9 points, 0.7 per cent, at 5,078.9 while the mid-cap FTSE 250 added 17.2 points, or 0.2 per cent to 7,335.1 by mid-morning.

Japan's two major stock indices both climbed to their highest levels since mid-April yesterday, as materials and fuel producers gained from high commodity prices. Some export stocks also rose, though more moderately, in response to the dollar's strength against the yen. The Nikkei rose 0.9 per cent to close the week at 11,514.03.