Financial News

Battered local equities ticked lower again yesterday as the Malta Stock Exchange index closed in negative territory for the tenth straight session, losing 1.3 per cent, to 5,412.096 points.

The three largest capitalised companies all registered significant declines, falling below what were perceived as support levels. Bank of Valletta shares dipped by 0.5 per cent, to a four-and-a-half month low of Lm3.98. Activity in the equity was limited to a mere 6,675 shares which changed hands over an aggregate 13 deals.

A similar negative performance was registered in HSBC Bank Malta shares which tumbled by over two per cent to Lm2.20. This represents the lowest close for the equity since the end of January, this year. Activity was relatively strong with 35,285 shares traded and 32 deals.

Maltacom was another heavy decliner, losing 2.6 per cent on the day. Activity in the equity was limited to a single deal for 300 shares which was enough to push the price down to Lm1.90.

In the rest of the market, FIMBank was the only equity that bucked the negative trend. The equity managed to notch a $0.02 gain in the dying minutes of the session after having traded flat for most of the day.

On the fixed income market volumes remained also subdued with just four corporate issues and two government bonds involved in the day's activity.

Bourses hit by tighter US rate outlook

London equities tracked Wall Street lower in morning trade yesterday after US stocks were hit overnight by further Federal Reserve inflation warnings. The FTSE 100 was down 0.2 per cent by mid-morning, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.5 per cent.

Europe's bourses recouped some of their early losses to sit slightly lower mid-morning after Wall Street fell as further Federal Reserve inflation warnings raised the prospect of tighter US monetary policy. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 fell 0.2 per cent to 1,265.65 with the Xetra Dax in Frankfurt down 0.3 per cent to 5,422.66, the CAC-40 in Paris off 0.3 per cent to 4,715.06. Fears of a slowdown in US demand, and interest rates seen potentially rising by two quarter-point increases, hit metals and pushed oil below $69 a barrel. In New York overnight, the S&P 500 was down 0.9 per cent while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.9 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.7 per cent lower.

The Japanese stock market was dragged down yesterday by falls in commodity shares and a slew of adverse corporate news. The Nikkei 225 fell 1.4 per cent to 14,648.41. The Topix lost 1.1 per cent to close at 1,510.32.

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