Financial News

Yesterday's trading session at the Malta Stock Exchange was characterised by a small number of deals spread across a wide range of securities.

Relatively speaking, Maltacom shares were the most actively traded equity on the exchange with 10.835 shares being exchanged across nine transactions. This activity did not affect the previous closing price of Lm1.35c.

Global Financial Services Group shares were the day's top gainers as an investor purchased 2,868 shares at a 5c1 or 4.7 per cent premium to the previous day's closing price. This new level promises to be supported as 6,692 shares remain unsatisfied on the bid side at Lm1.14c.

Activity was particularly light in HSBC with barely 1,800 shares being transacted across two transactions at the Lm5.27c8 level. Bank of Valletta fared slightly better, although the volume traded was even more meagre. Just 550 shares were swapped among two investors with the price declining by the slimmest of margins to Lm4.99c9.

Smaller companies had a mixed session. Plaza Centres were the worst hit, as selling pressure saw the price tumble 3.3 per cent to a one-year low of Lm0.60c9. Farsons shares declined by a penny to new multi-month lows, as investors wishing to exit the equity sold to fresh bids which came in at Lm0.89c.

IHI shares improved marginally but remain range bound, while Datatrak gained the equivalent of 6.10 per cent to close at Lm0.19c1.

Kingfisher bid hopes lead FTSE higher

European equities traded at new three-year highs on Thursday as oil prices dropped on easing hurricane concerns, helping Wall Street post a modest rise in the previous session. By midday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.6 per cent to 1,166.6, while Frankfurt's Xetra Dax added 0.4 per cent to 4,700.13. In Paris, the CAC-40 was up 0.7 per cent to 4,373.

The FTSE 100 moved higher by the end of morning trade yesterday, helped by takeover rumours surrounding Kingfisher and some upbeat broker comment on a day with little fresh corporate newsflow to excite investors. The FTSE 100 gained 0.4 per cent at 5,265.3, a fresh three-year-high, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 lost 0.3 per cent to 7,517.5 mid-day.

Overnight in New York, US markets ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.4 per cent higher at 10,557.4 and the Nasdaq Composite coming off its recent sustained advance to finish flat on the day at 2,144.1.

Gannett, the largest US newspaper publisher, on Wednesday attributed its weaker profit to reduced advertising in its US broadcasting businesses and the effects of a flagging UK economy on its British newspapers.

Japanese shares rose yesterday, led by buying in the technology sector following better-than-expected earnings reports from US peers and positive news on Wednesday from the Bank of Japan. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index rose 0.90 per cent to 11,764.26, while the broader Topix average firmed 0.46 per cent to 1,191.17. Trading was light, with 12.5 billion shares traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section.