Financial News

Equity prices improved slightly during yesterday's trading session at the Malta Stock Exchange as fresh funds continued to pour into this segment of the market.

Bank of Valletta was the day's most actively traded equity as 56,660 shares, carrying a market consideration of Lm238,916, were exchanged across 43 transactions. Activity was mainly driven by the bid side which aggressively purchased shares and cleared offers all the way up to the Lm4.26 level. However, the last transaction of the session saw the day's gains trimmed to just 1c1 or 0.3 per cent with the price closing at Lm4.21.

All the day's trades of HSBC Bank Malta, which saw 34,968 shares changing hands, were struck at the Lm2.40 level, without affecting its previous level.

Lombard Bank continued to recover from its recent slump and pull away from its multi-month low by a further 6c5 or 1.3 per cent. The day's activity consisted of two buy orders for a total of 1,195 shares which pushed the price to close at Lm5.06,5.

Malta International Airport was the day's top gainer as the equity moved north by 1.4 per cent. Activity remained particularly weak with barely 1,935 shares being exchanged across three transactions. Nevertheless the equity managed to close at Lm1.45.

Selling pressure in Middlesea Insurance saw the price tumble by 17c or 3.3 per cent to Lm5, its lower level since early April.

Elsewhere Maltacom stopped a soft decline as buying activity returned to the tune of 26,950 shares which were purchased across 11 transactions. This activity helped the price improve by 0.8 per cent to close the session at Lm1.95,5.

Volatile London stocks hit by dollar weakness

European equities extended their losses yesterday as banks and oil stocks weighed, while M&A confusion in the steel sector led to profit taking after recent gains. By midday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 1.1 per cent, while Frankfurt's Xetra Dax was off 1.3 per cent. In Paris, the CAC 40 shed 1.1 per cent.

London equities fell sharply as leading dollar earners were hit by weakness in the US currency. The FTSE 100 index fell 1.1 per cent. The mid-cap FTSE 250 was down a further 181.2 points at 9,326.8 as last week's mini-rally gave way to concerns that the current stock market correction still had further to go.

The Japanese stock market moved down a touch with some encouraging corporate announcements counterbalanced by nervousness among foreign investors. The Nikkei 225 was down 0.4 per cent. The Topix declined by 0.2 per cent.

US markets looked set to open lower following the holiday weekend, as investors awaited the release of consumer-confidence data later in the day. An hour before opening, S&P 500 futures were 4.54 points below fair value, while Nasdaq Composite futures were 9.67 points below fair value.

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