Financial news
Middlesea, Maltacom up on low volume
The MSE index registered its second consecutive session of gains yesterday although, typical of the summer months, volume activity in equities remained subdued.
Middlesea Insurance was the day's top gainer, bouncing from its recent low as two investors exchanged 2,000 shares at the Lm2.55 level, which represents a 5c or two per cent premium to its previous closing price.
Maltacom too terminated the session, eking in a 2c5 or 1.3 percentage gain. Activity remained miserable with a paltry 510 shares being exchanged across two transactions. Nevertheless, buyers were the main instigators of the trade pushing the price up to Lm2.55.
The day's most liquid equity was International Hotel Investments where 32,160 shares were swapped across five transactions. All deals were executed, without affecting their previous closing price of €0.91.
Investors negotiated HSBC Bank Malta at the Lm2.20c level. The day's turnover amounted to 13,035 shares carrying a market consideration of Lm28,677. At the session's close, 2,604 shares were best bid at Lm2.18, while supply was for 2,091 shares at Lm2.20.
Similarly, Bank of Valletta closed the final session of the week unchanged at Lm3.97. Activity declined drastically from Thursday's session with merely 1,875 shares being exchanged across nine transactions. A particularly thick offer-side, constantly reinforced with limit sell orders has kept the price below the Lm4 level for the past four consecutive sessions.
London shares positive again
European equities rallied after the losses of the previous session, which followed unexpected hawkishness from the European Central Bank and a surprise rate increase from the Bank of England. By midday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.6 per cent. In Paris, the CAC 40 gained 0.7 per cent, while Frankfurt's Xetra Dax added one per cent.
London equities staged a comeback as the market recovered some of its poise after Thursday's shock rate rise from the Bank of England. Banking stocks, hard hit in the previous session amid fears that rising rates could trigger a jump in bad debt, made progress. In the wider market, the FTSE 100 rose 0.2 per cent while the mid-cap FTSE 250 was 0.3 per cent stronger.
Domestic stocks nudged the Nikkei slightly higher despite a mixed performance among exporters. The Nikkei 225 closed up 0.2 per cent and the Topix gained 0.1 per cent. Trading on the Tokyo stock market was thin, with trading falling to its lowest level in over a month.
US stocks were poised to open higher as investors digested the latest jobs data. Some disappointing news from homebuilders and Apple Computer kept gains modest. An hour before the opening, S&P 500 futures were 2.66 points above fair value, while Nasdaq Composite futures were 1.49 points below fair value.
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