Financial News

Investors cautiously purchased equities during yesterday's trading session at the Malta Stock Exchange, thereby helping the index gain 0.5 per cent to attain 5,746 points.

The day's top gainer as well as the most liquid equity was Malta International Airport which returned to the favour of investors. As many as 42,151 shares were exchanged across 22 trades, thereby pushing the price higher by 6c or 4.1 per cent to close at an eight-week high of Lm1.51. Malta International Airport should shortly be reporting its financial results for the full year.

Bank of Valletta progressed further north with 30,323 shares being purchased across 23 transactions. The equity immediately opened higher at Lm4.22 and climbed steadily throughout the session, ending 5c or 1.2 per cent higher at Lm4.26.

For the third day running, HSBC Bank Malta closed the day unchanged at Lm2.40. During the session a total of 10,085 shares were exchanged across 18 transactions with the price barely registering any move. Activity was characterised by investors nibbling at an offer side which did not budge from the Lm2.40 level.

A single transaction executed towards the end of the session saw two investors swap 1,000 shares of Lombard Bank at the Lm5.05 level. An additional 1,000 shares remain outstanding at this price while best demand is for 500 shares at Lm4.85.

Further buying activity in Maltacom helped the equity close at its highest level since the beginning of April. Trading consisted in 10,840 shares which were swapped across 15 transactions, with the price gaining a 1c5 or 0.8 per cent premium to terminate at Lm1.97.

European stocks recover after early losses

Recent volatility in the London market continued yesterday as the FTSE 100 index reversed a 50-point loss to trade sharply higher. By late morning, the index was 0.7 per cent. The mid-cap FTSE 250 was 0.9 per cent higher.

European equities recovered early, sharp losses as banks and oil stocks turned around, supported also by strength in telecoms stocks, which have shown defensive qualities during recent market volatility. By midday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.2 per cent higher while Frankfurt's Xetra Dax climbed 0.4 per cent. In Paris, the CAC 40 was flat at 4,893.11.

Wall Street fell sharply on Tuesday, giving up all of last week's tentative gains as investors returned from the Memorial Day holiday to confront higher oil prices and a falling dollar. At the close, the S&P 500 was down 1.6 per cent while the Nasdaq Composite was down 2.1 per cent.

The Nikkei 225 fell to its lowest intraday close in three months, hit by weakness in both export and domestically focused stocks. Export stocks were hit by weakness in US shares, which provoked fears about demand in a key market for many Japanese tech firms and carmakers.

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