Yesterday's trading session at the Malta Stock Exchange saw low-volume buying activity, as supply remains lacking notwithstanding the fact that most equity prices are at record highs.
HSBC Bank Malta shares traded all the way up to the Lm7.05 level as a very thin offer side left investors wishing to purchase shares with no option but to increase their prices. However, later in the session, supply came to the market and forced the price down to close at Lm6.96c1, which still represents a 6c1 gain on the day.
Trading activity in Bank of Valletta followed suit with investors wishing to purchase shares chasing the price all the way up to Lm6.86. This represents a premium of 14c or two per cent compared to Wednesday's close and a new record high for the Bank, which is already trading ex-dividend.
Middlesea Insurance shares gained for the second consecutive session to close at Lm3.40. The day's turnover amounted to 4,985 shares, which were exchanged across two transactions, pushing the price up by a penny.
On the contrary, Maltacom declined by the same monetary amount as 6,263 shares were sold onto current bids at the Lm1.75 level. At the end of the session 6,000 shares were best bid at Lm1.73c while 3,571 shares remain outstanding at the Lm1.75 level.
Malta International Airport shares closed unchanged on the day at Lm1.60.
Banking losses continue to weigh on Tokyo
Falls in banking and other domestic stocks continued to push down Japan's bank-heavy Topix index yesterday, although rises in some technology shares provided a counterweight. The Topix finished the day down 0.2 per cent at 1,484.68. The tech-heavy Nikkei 225 average rose 0.1 per cent to 14,080.88.
Wall Street chugged higher, as a surge in oil stocks narrowly offset falls in the auto sector. However, stocks were stuck in a tight trading range and news of higher crude and motor gasoline inventories failed to inject any noticeable momentum into the market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.1 per cent at 10,545.01, while the broader S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent to 1,220.52. The Nasdaq Composite Index made similar gains, rising 0.2 per cent.
London's main equities markets were unmoved yesterday as a flurry of earnings figures failed to impress investors but oil explorer Cairn Energy made progress on positive news from its Rajasthan oil field. The FTSE 100 was unchanged by midday at 5,439.8 but the mid-cap FTSE 250 was 0.3 per cent higher at 8,011.7. A raft of mostly positive corporate results, the weaker euro and lower oil prices helped push Europe's bourses higher yesterday, with HVB, ING and Aegon all exceeding expectations. At noon, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 had gained 0.2 per cent to 1,228.10 with the Xetra Dax in Frankfurt up 0.4 per cent to 5,031.30. The CAC-40 added 0.4 per cent to 4,496.32.