Further declines for equities

The local market declined for the fifth consecutive session yesterday as the larger banking equities continued to be sold off.

For the third successive session HSBC Bank Malta was the day's top loser as investors aggressively sought to book their profits following the bonus share allotment. The day's turnover amounted to 97,867 shares which were exchanged across 151 transactions, with the price immediately opening lower at Lm2.61c and gradually falling to a low of Lm2.54c8, before recovering slightly to close at Lm2.57. At the end of the session merely 200 shares were best bid at Lm2.56 against supply of 3,228 shares at Lm2.57.

Profit taking activity was also evident in Bank of Valletta where 31,184 shares were sold across 44 transactions forcing a six cents or 1.3 per cent decline in price to Lm4.64. Bank of Valletta should be issuing its half yearly results April 27.

Two investors swapped 1,300 shares of Malta International Airport at the Lm1.45c5 level, which represents a 0.3 per cent discount to its previous closing prices.

Maltacom shares rebounded from initial declines as buying activity pursued a drop in price to the Lm1.80c1 level. By the end of the session a total of 10,900 shares were exchange without affecting the previous closing price of Lm1.82.

Elsewhere in the market, transactions in Simonds Farsons Cisk and International Hotel Investments did not affect their previous closing prices of 83 cents and €0.90 respectively.

Wall Street seen higher as Google surges

Wall Street looked set to extend its rally yesterday as a raft of positive earnings from leading bellwethers - including Google - continue to buoy market sentiment.

With less than an hour to go before the market opened, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 16 points, suggesting a higher start. Contracts on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 were up 3.40 points and five points, respectively, also indicating some early gains.

Among the companies in focus, shares in Google surged 9.8 per cent to $453.09 in pre-market trading after the company delivered a set of mammoth quarterly earnings. Revenues jumped more than 100 per cent, easily exceeding analysts expectations. Credit Suisse First Boston raised its price estimate on the stock to $500, citing the company's increasing share of the online advertising market.

The FTSE 100 hit a fresh five-year high yesterday as mining stocks recovered from the previous session's late sell-off.

Shire Pharmaceuticals rose as the drug group its attempts to prevent generic version of its Adderall hyperactivity drug appearing.

Following overnight gains on Wall Street and in Japan, European equity markets extended their initial gains by mid-morning yesterday, helped by a retreat in oil prices. However, Thursday's sharp sell-off in precious metals, which continued overnight in Asia, weighed on mining stocks.

The financial news was compiled by Valletta Fund Management (tel. 8007 2344) and BOV Stockbrokers Ltd (2275 1732).