Financial News
Equities balance out
The equity market threaded water during yesterday's trading session at the Malta Stock Exchange as gainers and losers offset each other, forcing the index to close practically unchanged at 5,779 points.
Maltacom was the day's top gainer and supported much of the slim declines in the banking sector. During the session a total of 22,299 shares were exchanged, with the price climbing steadily throughout, thereby registering a 2.7 percentage gain.
At the end of the session, all supply up to the Lm1.90 level was cleared out, leaving 660 shares best bid at Lm1.88,1 against supply of 5,000 shares at Lm1.95.
Middlesea Insurance recouped 1.5 per cent as 1,000 shares were purchased across three transactions. The equity ended at the Lm5.27,9 level, which represents a 7c9 premium over Wednesday's closing price. HSBC Bank Malta was the day's most actively negotiated equity, however volumes waned compared to previous sessions. Trading commenced at the Lm2.42 level and quickly declined down to the Lm2.40, where ample support was found.
Investors delayed trading in Bank of Valletta by almost 10 minutes, when the price opened lower by the slimmest of margins. Consequently it drifted lower but buyers showed a certain amount of resilience as they helped the price crawl its way up to close the day at the Lm4.35 level.
Elsewhere in the market, activity in Malta International Airport, Global Financial Services Group and International Hotel Investments did not affect their previous closing levels of Lm1.50, Lm2.05 and €0.94 respectively.
European stocks higher after rally in oil stocks
European stocks were higher yesterday, as earnings provided relief from interest-rate concerns after forecast-beating numbers from ING and Holcim. By midday the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.6 per cent while Frankfurt's Xetra Dax added 0.5 per cent. The CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.7 per cent.
The FTSE 100 moved back above 6,100 yesterday with mining stocks to the fore.
A host of leading companies were boosted by inclusion in the latest MSCI World Index, an influential indicator closely watched by fund managers. The FTSE 250 was 38.6 points higher.
US stocks barely moved on Wednesday afternoon in reaction to the decision by the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by 25 basis points to five per cent with the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished flat after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates as expected.
Tokyo shares hit a six-week closing low yesterday, as investors continued to sell off shares of Japan's leading exporters due to the continued strength of the yen against the dollar. The benchmark Nikkei 225 average closed down 0.5 per cent to 16,862.14, while the broader Topix index fell 0.8 per cent to 1,711.31.
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