Financial News

Equities gained during the mid-week session at the Malta Stock Exchange as a fresh bout of buying activity lifted sentiment ahead of HSBC Bank Malta's interim results which will be reported later on this month. Volumes picked up slightly as investors sitting on the side lines plunged into the market on the first indication of an upward tick.

HSBC Bank Malta was the day's top gainer as well as the most actively traded equity. In fact the share price rallied by 5c or 2.3 per cent to Lm2.25 as 16,280 shares were exchanged across 16 transactions. Investors' expectations were rekindled when the company announced late on Tuesday that the board of directors would be meeting on July 27 to approve the interim results and consider the declaration of an interim dividend.

Lombard Bank registered the same monetary gain, which equates to a 0.9 per cent rise, as merely 392 shares were swapped between two investors at the Lm5.60 level.

Maltacom shares declined on low volume for the fifth consecutive session. The day's activity consisted in merely 775 shares being exchanged across four transactions dragging the price lower by 3c or 1.5 per cent to Lm1.95.

The price of Malta International Airport increased by a penny as a single purchase order for 7,240 shares was executed in rapid succession across three transactions, pushing the price up to Lm1.47.

Middlesea Insurrance surrendered 2c or 0.8 per cent as 5,028 shares were struck across three transactions while GlobalCapital shed a penny on barely 60 shares which were traded at Lm2.14.

Exporters lead drop in Tokyo

European equity markets extended early gains by lunchtime yesterday after a late rally overnight on Wall Street but high oil prices continue to weigh on investor sentiment. Corporate news flow was set to be relatively light. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 rose 0.9 per cent to while the Xetra Dax added 1.3 per cent and the French CAC40 gained 1.2 per cent.

Strength in the mining and online gaming sectors drove London stock markets higher. The FTSE 100 moved 25.8 points higher to 5,882.7, with mining stocks the leading driver. The FTSE 250 index firmed up 32.5 points to 9,352.8.

Tokyo stocks fell led by losses among exporters concerned overseas earnings may be eroded by the yen's strengthening to a near one-month high at Y114 to the US dollar. The Nikkei 225 index lost 1.5 per cent while the broader Topix index fell 1.4 per cent.

Wall Street finished higher on Tuesday after reversing losses made earlier in the day when investors took fright at earnings news from Lucent and Alcoa. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3 per cent, climbing over 100 points in the final three hours of trading. The S&P 500 was up 0.4 per cent, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.6 per cent higher.