New high for HSBC shares

Activity faded during yesterday's trading session at the Malta Stock Exchange, with the bond market uncharacteristically more quiet than equities.

HSBC Bank Malta was the most actively traded equity on the exchange with 12,507 shares, having a market consideration of more than Lm65,300, exchanging hands across 18 deals, pushing the price to close 6c5 or 1.25 per cent better, at yet another record high of Lm5.27c.

Maltacom shares came in second as to volume traded. A total of 8,005 shares were exchanged during the last session of the week with the price remaining unchanged at Lm1.33c. All eight transactions were sell orders, which met a strong bid side, with more demand coming into the market throughout the session to match supply.

Malta International Airport shares recouped some of Thursday's declines as two investors swapped 500 shares among them at the Lm1.30c level. MIA shares have declined by three per cent this week after the equity turned ex-dividend on Tuesday.

Other low-volume single deals did not affect the previous closing prices of Bank of Valletta and Lombard Bank which remained at the Lm5.02c and Lm5.60 levels respectively.

An eerie silence dominated the fixed interest market. Just a single trade was executed during the entire day, namely 50,000 bonds of the five per cent MGS 2021 (I) being exchanged at the Lm104.20c level

Markets recover after London bombings

European equities recouped much of the previous session's losses which were sparked by bomb attacks in London, following resilient performances in the US and Asia. In morning trade, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 1.1 per cent to 1,148.60, while Frankfurt's Xetra Dax rose 1.0 per cent to 4,574.47. In Paris, the CAC-40 was 1.4 per cent higher at 4,279.47 and London's FTSE 100 climbed 1.2 per cent to 5,218.

Having fallen more than four per cent in the immediate aftermath of the bombings on Thursday, European markets turned around in the afternoon to finish less than two per cent lower.

In the US, investors responded with a resilient performance and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.3 per cent to 10,302.29, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.3 per cent to 2,075.66. Among the worst hit sectors on Thursday were travel and leisure, both of which rebounded yesterday amid spirited trading. French leisure group Accor, which had expressed an interest in the sale of the Tattinger group's hotels, gained 1.9 per cent to €40.03.

Airlines Air France-KLM and Ryanair recovered 2.3 per cent to €12.71 and 2.1 per cent to €6.43 respectively. However, German airline Deutsche Lufthansa was more sluggish, lifting only one per cent to €10.05 after suffering a 2.3 per cent drop on Thursday.

Technology stocks were among the best performers, having been among the poorest on Thursday. Infineon, the German chipmaker, was up 2.9 per cent to €7.75, while Paris-listed rival STMicroelectronics climbed 2.7 per cent to €13.48.

The financial news was compiled by Valletta Fund Management (tel. 8007 2344) and BOV Stockbrokers Ltd (2122 7370/1/4).