Financial News

The Malta Stock Exchange Index staged its fifth consecutive day of gains, closing at a new record high of 5,082 points, up by 0.6 per cent from the previous session.

The day's activity was widespread even though volumes remained uncharacteristically low as investors remained on the sidelines awaiting the market's reaction to Bank of Valletta's Bonus Issue which was allocated after Wednesday's close.

Investors left it to the last 10 minutes to start trading in BOV shares as initial wide spreads between the bid and offer sides meant that no orders could initially be matched. In the end, the price opened at Lm3.76 and went up to close at Lm3.77. This represents a 49 per cent decline from Wednesday's close of Lm7.40.

Also in the banking sector shares of HSBC Bank Malta gained a further 2c5 to close the day at Lm8.31,5. The equity even touched an all-time high of Lm8.35 initially on significant volume but failed to maintain these levels for the second day running.

Lombard Bank Malta was the only equity finishing in the red as the share price maintained its negative strike to close at Lm7.70. Meanwhile Malta International Airport shares managed to close at Lm1.53, gaining 2c8 on an aggregate 4,900 shares.

All the remaining equities trading during the day ended unchanged and included FIMBank, Global Financial Services Group, Maltacom and Plaza Centre.

European bourses bounce as financials rally

European equities bounced yesterday as the sell-off seen in Tokyo over the previous two days ended with a rally of more than two per cent, but falling energy stocks kept a lid on gains. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.4 per cent to 1,290.3, while Frankfurt's Xetra Dax added 0.5 per cent to 5,421.94. In Paris, the CAC 40 gained 0.6 per cent to 4,801.11, and London's FTSE 100 climbed 0.6 per cent to 5,695.2.

In the insurance sector, Munich Re bounced 1.1 per cent to €110.21, Allianz gained 1.6 per cent to €127.50 and Zurich Financial added 1.4 per cent to SFr279.

Wall Street struggled in the previous session however, as the Nasdaq Composite shed one per cent to 2,279.64 after technology bellwethers Intel and Yahoo posted disappointing earnings after Tuesday's close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.4 per cent lower at 10,854.86.

Japanese stocks bounced back with a vengeance yesterday after two days of heavy selling that followed Monday evening's raid by government prosecutors on internet company Livedoor. The Nikkei 225 managed its biggest one-day gain in three months, finishing the day up 2.3 per cent at 15,696.28 after plunging 5.7 per cent in the previous two days. The Topix rose 2.9 per cent to 1,620.29. The majority of the gain was made early in the day, with the Nikkei 225 up 1.5 per cent just, 14 minutes after the market opened at 9 a.m.