Investors seem to have changed moods half way through yesterday's trading session at the Malta Stock Exchange. What commenced as a positive day, quickly turned around to force a negative close on the MSE index.

Bank of Valletta shares were one of only two equities that managed to close in the black, although by the slimmest of margins. The equity did trade at a new record high of Lm5.65 for a lengthy period of time before succumbing to profit taking in the dying seconds of the session.

For the third consecutive session, HSBC Bank Malta registered a drop in price to Lm6.26 but the equity remains one of the most actively traded on the exchange, with yesterday's 13 deals being valued at Lm68,482.

Two investors exchanged 3,700 FIMBank shares without affecting the previous closing level of $1.85. Similarly, Lombard Bank closed unchanged at Lm7.00 as 540 shares were sold across two transactions.

Elsewhere in the market Malta International Airport gained slightly as 8,192 shares were transacted across six deals ahead of the government's sale to the public of a 20 per cent chunk in the company. The day's transactions were struck at a minor premium to the government's offer price of Lm1.40.

Maltacom closed off a rather volatile week with a 2c9 or 1.8 per cent decline to Lm1.56c1. The day's activity consisted of 11,515 shares which were sold across 13 trades.

Wall Street gives up gains despite bright retail news

Wall Street surrendered earlier gains to close lower on Thursday, after comments on inflation from a Federal Reserve official overshadowed a continued decline in oil prices and major retailers calming fears over a sharp slowdown in US consumer spending.

After a bright start, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both fell to fresh three-month lows, with the Dow off 0.3 per cent at 10,284.38 and the S&P 500 0.4 per cent lower at 1,191.13. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell one per cent to 2,083.14.

After a week in which the FTSE oil sector has lost one-third of the gains made in the last five months, trading continued to lack conviction as the bulls kept to the sidelines. The FTSE 100 traded 0.1 per cent weaker at 5,364.7 while the mid-cap FTSE 250 was 0.2 per cent softer at 7,762.9 shortly after noon.

By midday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 fell 0.4 per cent to 1,207.01, with the Xetra Dax in Frankfurt down 0.4 per cent to 4,995.01, the CAC-40 in Paris off 0.4 per cent to 4,519.41.

Japanese stocks enjoyed mixed fortunes yesterday, with sharp rises and falls in certain sectors as investors continued to adjust sectoral weightings.

The tech-heavy Nikkei 225 stock average closed one per cent lower to 13,227.74. But the bank-heavy Topix index eked out a 0.1 per cent increase to 1,372.52.

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