Financial News
Equities remain muted
The local equity market had a quiet start to the week after rallying significantly over the latter part of last week. Price volatility was muted, with the Malta Stock Exchange Index closing the session flat at 5,639.109 points, a mere 0.01 per cent higher than Friday's close.
Shares of HSBC Bank Malta attracted the lion's share of the day's activity with an aggregate 62,569 shares traded. The equity gained a penny at the start of the session but failed to hold on to this slight margin by the end, to close the day unchanged at the Lm2.35 level. Interest in the equity has stepped up significantly in the past few sessions, after the group announced that the board of directors will be meeting on July 27 to approve its interim results.
This development has provided contagious on the shares of its major rival, Bank of Valletta plc, which has also benefited on the news. The share price managed to break through the Lm4 level after quite some time, albeit it failed to make further headway during yesterday's session, closing unchanged at Lm4.04,9.
The rest of the financial sector also ended flat, and included low volume trades in both Lombard Bank and Middlesea Insurance. The former registered three deals for an aggregate 2,707 shares, while a single transaction was undertaken in Middlesea Insurance for a mere 192 shares.
Plaza Centres and International Hotel Investments outperformed the broader market, advancing by 0c5 and 0c9, respectively. In negative territory shares of Malta International Airport ended in negative territory, losing 0c1 and ending the day at Lm1.47,5.
Mideast crisis affects markets
After a mixed start, European equity markets moved lower by mid-morning yesterday, extending last week's losses, as rapidly escalating violence in the Middle East and record oil prices weighed on investor sentiment. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 fell 0.8 per cent while the German Dax lost 0.7 per cent and the French CAC40 dropped 1.2 per cent.
Online gaming stocks plunged in London as the boss of BetOnSports was detained in the US. The FTSE 100 fell 0.2 per cent while the mid-cap FTSE 250 lost 0.5 per cent.
On Friday, Wall Street retreated after Nymex August West Texas Intermediate hit a record $78.40 a barrel before easing back to trade at $77.45. Traders think a move above $80 a barrel this week is likely as the crisis in the Middle East deteriorated over the weekend.
On Friday, the Bank of Japan sought to calm fears of a rapid tightening of monetary policy as it asserted its independence from political control and put an end to more than six years of zero interest rates. The Central Bank indicated it expected to keep interest rates very low for some time and would take a gradual approach to any further tightening.
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