Financial News

The Malta Stock Exchange Index declined slightly yesterday as investors immediately booked profits following two consecutive sessions of gains.

This activity was most evident in banking sector shares, particularly in FIMBank which dropped by 1.8 per cent as 69,200 shares were exchanged across five transactions. All trades took place at the $2.05 level.

Activity in HSBC Bank Malta remained high with 111,477 shares being struck across 97 deals. The equity immediately opened lower and gently declined as the session wore on. In the end, the price had given up all its previous session's gain and terminated the session at Lm2.67.

Trading in Bank of Valletta was confined between Lm4.89 and Lm4.92, with 62,482 shares being exchanged across 55 trades. The equity closed at the lower end of the range, leaving 1,500 shares best bid at Lm4.81 as opposed to 1,182 shares offered at Lm4.89.

Middlesea Insurance was the day's top gainer, as the equity bucked the general market trend to close in positive territory. A total of 7,202 shares were purchased across 15 transactions, on anticipation of the company's full year results, thereby pushing the price 12c or 2.3 per cent higher to close at Lm5.26. Initial selling activity in Maltacom saw the equity touch a trough of Lm1.81,8 before buying activity crept in and restored the price back to Lm1.85. However, turnover was low with only 4,035 shares being exchanged across seven trades.

Wall Street seen flat ahead of open

Stock futures traded flat yesterday after a larger than expected rise in durable goods orders blunted optimism coming from corporate earnings. Among companies reporting yesterday were ConocoPhillips and Colgate-Palmolive, with Nasdaq-listed Amazon and Monster Worldwide also announcing earnings.

A little less than an hour before the opening, S&P 500 futures rose 0.5 points to 1309.90. The Nasdaq seen slightly lower, with futures down a half point to 1,714, while Dow Jones futures were up seven points at 11,340.

London equities headed higher yesterday, with the FTSE 250 the standout feature as the mid-cap index crossed the 10,000 point level for the first time.

By midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4 per cent, lifted by strength in the banking sector and a strong performance from Centrica. Elsewhere, the FTSE 250 rose 0.4 per cent.

Strong results from Swiss drugmaker Roche, better than expected numbers from chip makers and robust cement stocks helped Europe's bourses climb yesterday.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 added 0.2 per cent with the Xetra Dax in Frankfurt up 0.2 per cent, the CAC-40 in Paris 0.4 per cent higher and the FTSE 100 in London 0.4 per cent ahead.

Falls in many domestically focused stocks were counterbalanced by rises in companies that have recently reported strong earnings - leaving Japanese stocks up slightly yesterday morning.

The Nikkei 225 average rose 0.3 per cent by midday. The Topix was up 0.1 per cent to 1,720.79.

Many domestic sectors fell, amid continued investor nervousness about high Japanese stock valuations. Domestic stocks were also at the forefront of Monday's plunge in the Nikkei - the sharpest in three months.