Equities bounce back up

The equity market bounced back after four days of declines as investors tentatively bought back shares during yesterday's session at the Malta Stock Exchange.

This trend was best evident in HSBC Bank Malta which went from being the biggest loser on Thursday to the best performer during the final session of the week, as the price recovered 25c or 3.3 per cent to close the week at Lm7.75.

Bank of Valletta made a feeble attempt earlier on and towards the end of the session to climb into positive territory, but underestimated the determination of sellers who continued to book profits. The day's activity consisted in 18,610 shares which were exchanged across 38 transactions with the price closing 4c lower at Lm7.25.

Maltacom shares climbed 4c or 2.2 per cent in the dying minutes of the session, to help the equity close the week at Lm1.84. However, the majority of the 40,931 shares which changed hands across 30 deals were executed at the Lm1.80 level.

Elsewhere in the market Middlesea Insurance shares rallied all the way up to a five-year high of Lm3.75, only to decline slightly towards the end. The day's activity consisted of 1,200 shares which were exchanged across two transactions, with the price closing at Lm3.70.

Plaza Centres too continued to perform well, gaining 1c9 or 2.8 per cent to trade at Lm0.69,9, its highest level since July 2004. Activity was relatively muted with merely 2,200 shares changing hands.

Tech companies lead gains in Tokyo stocks

Japanese stocks reversed early losses to close at a fresh five-year high yesterday, bolstered by gains in the technology sector.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 average was up 0.02 per cent at 16,428.21 while the broader Topix index was off 0.01 per cent at 1,684.9.

Shares of technology stocks were broadly higher, following an overnight rally in the US market. Toshiba gained 2.6 per cent to Y758 while Fujitsu was 2.2 per cent higher at Y995. Canon, the camera and printer maker, gained one per cent to Y7,210 after its president said on Thursday that the company expected an eight to 10 per cent growth in sales and a 10 per cent increase in net profit in 2005.

European bourses were higher in afternoon trade, as rising oil prices brought energy stocks to the fore, while weaker-than-expected US jobs data were largely ignored. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 rose 0.4 per cent to 1,302.47 with Frankfurt's Xetra Dax up 0.1 per cent, while the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.4 per cent and the FTSE 100 in London was 0.5 per cent higher. On Wall Street, stocks moved modestly higher in spite of only 108,000 new jobs having been created in December. The market had been expecting a number nearer 200,000.

In early trade in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.3 per cent higher at 10,912.09, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.5 per cent to 2,287.66. London equity markets hit a fresh four-and-half-year high yesterday as rising crude prices boosted the heavily weighted oil sector and a broker upgrade boosted defence stocks.

The FTSE 100 rose 0.6 per cent to 5,722.7, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 climbed 0.1 per cent to 8,907.8.

The financial news was compiled by Valletta Fund Management (tel. 8007 2344) and BOV Stockbrokers Ltd (2122 1732).