Financial News
Investors shift holdings
Activity on the local equity market remained particularly strong as investors shifted their holdings from Bank of Valletta and Malta International Airport to shares of Maltacom and HSBC Bank Malta.
The Malta Stock Exchange index ended a five-day stretch of record highs, falling yesterday by 0.3 per cent, to 5,201 points.
Bank of Valletta remained the most liquid equity, with 148,949 shares changing hands during the day. The share price succumbed to a robust selling side, as investors opted to take profits out of the recent rally. In the end the share price finished the session down by 2.4 per cent to Lm4.
Particularly negative was the performance registered by Malta International Airport which plunged by over five per cent during the session to its lowest close since the October offering by the government.
In the meantime, shares of Maltacom closed at their highest level since April 2001. The share price rallied by 1.5 per cent to Lm1.94,8 on significant volume, as investors reacted positively to recent comments in the press on the outcome of the bidding process.
HSBC Bank Malta closed at a new record high of Lm8.43 as investors bought the equity ahead of the publication of its full-year results which are due in the next few weeks.
Also in positive territory ended shares of Middlesea Insurance and Lombard Bank which gained 1.3 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.
European bourses lower but Philips shines
European stocks eased back on Monday but held up relatively well given the scale of the sell-off on Wall Street on Friday after oil prices dipped and US stocks opened modestly higher. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 slipped 0.2 per cent, to 1,280.87.
Philips, the consumer electronics company, gained 2.6 per cent to €26 after its fourth quarter net profits beat forecasts. The company also gave an optimistic outlook for 2006. The results were partly boosted by a good performance at its chip unit, leading some analysts to suggest it may get a better price should it sell the subsidiary this year.
The FTSE 100 received a boost in mid session as BOC became the first FTSE 100 company to receive a bid approach, offsetting weakness in Vodafone. The news enabled the FTSE 100 to trade down just 0.1 per cent at 5,654.6. The mid cap FTSE 250 index rose 0.3 per cent to 8,928.3.
Japanese stocks rallied on Tuesday with a strong rebound in domestically-focused shares. The Nikkei 225 rose 1.9 per cent to close at 15,648.89, with the Topix up 1.5 per cent to 1,612.43. Investors bought domestically focused stocks, which have suffered sharp falls recently, as the sense of crisis provoked by last week's raid by government prosecutors of Livedoor began to abate. Real estate rose 3.1 per cent and retailers climbed 3.5 per cent, as investors began to attach greater value again to Japan's economic recovery.