Financial News
Maltacom shares rally
Investors concentrated their attention on equities during yesterday's session at the Malta Stock Exchange with nine companies attracting trades and activity.
Maltacom shares returned in favour as all supply up to the Lm1.40c was wiped off the board. Initial trades were struck at the Lm1.36c level, but towards the end of the session, fresh demand came onto the floor of the Exchange scooping up shares and helping the price register a 4c8 or 3.5 per cent gain.
On the contrary, Bank of Valletta shares failed to hold onto their recent gain and succumbed back down to the Lm5.00c level under selling pressure, coupled with a marked lack in bids.
Fresh bids of Plaza Centres, for a total of 3,041 shares at Lm0.60c, were filled in rapid succession across four trades, while 694 shares of Datatrak Holdings, a partially filled order left over from Tuesday's session was sold to the best bidder at Lm0.17c5.
Suncrest Hotels shares saw a 0.85 per cent gain on low volume whilst Malta International Airport shares improved its previous session's price by the slimmest of margins.
In the fixed interest sector of the market, activity was spread across four corporate bonds and three government stocks, with yields moving in opposite directions..
European bourses lower as tech losses weigh
European equity markets turned lower in afternoon trade as Wall Street got off to a lower start after poor results from the US tech sector overnight. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.4 per cent at 1,161.79, Frankfurt's Xetra Dax fell 0.1 per cent to 4,769.29 and the CAC-40 in Paris lost 0.2 per cent to 4,413.72.
Outperforming these however, was the FTSE 100 in London, which was up 0.1 per cent at 5,227.6 as advancing mining stocks and retailers buoyed up the market. Gains were given further momentum by news that four members of Bank of England's monetary policy committe voted in favour of cutting UK interest rates by 25 basis points at its July meeting. Meanwhile, the two European handset makers were troubled by Motorola's share price fall. Nokia, the world's biggest maker, fell 2.5 per cent to €14.66 and Ericsson shed 2.3 per cent to SKr26.10.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened down 0.3 per cent at 10,611.79 and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.5 per cent to 2,161.73.
Japan's Nikkei 225 crept up to a 14-week closing high yesterday, responding to strong first-half data on China's gross domestic product. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.2 per cent to 11,789.35 while the broader Topix rose 0.4 per cent to 1,196.33. The strong Chinese figures boosted sectors that derive a large proportion of their customs from China. Iron and steel leapt 1.8 per cent and sea transport increased by 1.3 per cent.