Local equities moved higher during yesterday's trading session at the Malta Stock Exchange boosted by gains in banking sector equities.
Bank of Valletta was the day's top performer as demand for shares kept trickling in throughout the entire session. In the end, a grand total of 25,430 shares were exchanged across 26 trades, thereby pushing the price 12c or 2.6 per cent higher to finish off at Lm4.72.
HSBC Bank Malta registered a monetary gain of 8c as 19,226 shares were exchanged across 79 transactions. Brokers seem to be keeping supply off the board, however keenly filled in bids during the session, as the price progressed higher.
The price closed the session at Lm10.98 leaving 140 shares best bid at Lm10.94 against supply of 2,535 shares at Lm10.98. Buying activity in FIMBank helped the price notch 0.5 per cent higher to close at $2.01. The day's turnover consisted of 12,690 shares which were exchanged across six transactions.
Investors left it till deep into the day's session to commence purchasing Maltacom shares. Activity was particularly weak with barely 5,500 shares being exchanged across seven transactions, however that was enough to see the price higher by 0.7 per cent to close at Lm2.19,5.
Two investors swapped 700 shares of Malta International Airport at Lm1.53,5, which represents a 0.3 per cent premium to its previous closing level, while 100 shares of Global Financial Services Group were sold at the Lm1.70,1 level.
Tokyo shares closer lower on profit-taking
Japanese stocks lost earlier gains in afternoon trading, hit by a combination of profit-taking and a weak dollar. The Nikkei 225 closed 0.8 per cent lower at 16,238.36, while the Topix fell 0.5 per cent to 1,665.79. The real estate sector managed to keep rising, albeit modestly. Investors have again become positive about the sector after sharp volatility in recent months - seeing it as a good way to buy into Japan's economic recovery. Tokyu Land rose 1.2 per cent to €1,081.
The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was flat yesterday as strength in the oil and automobile sectors was offset by weakness in banks and pharmaceuticals. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was flat at 1,363.73 with the FTSE 100 in London 0.1 per cent ahead at 5,960.6. However, the Xetra Dax was down 0.4 per cent to 5,829.95 and the CAC-40 0.1 per cent lower at 5,098.51.
Euronext, the operator of the Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon bourses' annual net profits rose by less than expected. But probably of more interest was that it said it planned to play a major role in global markets consolidation and would talk with Deutsche Borse. Nasdaq's $4.2 billion offer for the London Stock Exchange has concentrated the pair's minds on the competition implications. Deutsche Borse rose 1.4 per cent to €113.50 but Euronext fell 2.4 per cent to €60.20.
Shares on Wall Street advanced on Monday amid a fresh wave of merger and acquisition activity. The S&P 500 closed 0.2 per cent higher at 1,284.13 while the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.2 per cent to 2,267.03. However, the narrower Dow Jones Industrial Average was unchanged at 11,076.02.