Financial News

Equities continued to trend downwards during the final session of this shortened week, with losses in banking sector equities weighing on the MSE Index which shed 0.5 per cent to close the week at a two-month low of 5,312 points.

Lombard Bank was the day's top loser, dropping 38c or 6.3 per cent to close the session at the Lm5.60 level. The day's activity consisted of a single deal for 500 shares which were sold towards the end of the session. Activity in Bank of Valletta shares commenced on a relatively slow note but rapidly picked up pace in the final half an hour of trading. Sellers were the more aggressive forcing another two cents or 0.5 per cent decline on the price which terminated the week at Lm3.85, its lowest closing price since late January 2006.

Demand for HSBC Bank Malta at the Lm2.09 level was met by a constant flow of supply which was not immediately visible on the board. By the end of the session a total of 26,193 shares were exchanged across 35 trades, with all deals being filled without affecting its previous closing price.

Elsewhere, two investors swapped 900 shares of FIMBank at the $1.90 level. Similarly a solitary deal was struck in Maltacom where 1,100 shares changed hands at Lm1.93, which represents a 1c5 or 0.8 per cent discount to its previous session's closing price.

With overall tourist arrivals hitting a 10-year-low, investors continued dumping shares of Malta International Airport which slumped by 1.4 per cent during yesterday's session to close at Lm1.42.

London higher as defence stocks rally

European stocks were lower yesterday as August volumes remained thin and investors took profits after upbeat manufacturing data from the Philadelphia Fed in the US caused new inflation concerns.

In early trade, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.1 per cent at 1,358.85, while Frankfurt's Xetra Dax shed 0.2 per cent to 5,823.75. The CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.1 per cent to 5,140.36, but London's equities moved higher in opening trade as the FTSE 100 was 0.1 per cent firmer at 5,907.8, a rise of seven points while the FTSE 250 made gains of 0.2 per cent, or 20 points, to 9,507.3.

Overnight on Wall Street shares ended a little higher as the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1 per cent to 11,334.96, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.4 per cent to 2,157.61.

European aerospace and defence companies were boosted after the UK agreed to sell Saudi Arabia 72 Typhoon Eurofighter planes, in a deal worth £10 billion (€14.64 billion). The final contract is expected to be signed by the end of the year. The Eurofighter is a joint project between Britain's BAE Systems, up 3.4 per cent to 372 pence, Italy's Finmeccanica, 1.3 per cent higher at €17.13, and EADS, Europe's largest aerospace group, which gained 0.6 per cent to €23.54.

On the Asian front, Japanese stocks rose mildly yesterday, boosted by renewed confidence in the US economy because of lower oil prices. The Nikkei 225 was up 0.5 per cent to 16,105.98, with the Topix up 0.6 per cent to 1,641.45.

BOV and VFM are licensed by the MFSA to conduct investment services business.

Valletta Fund Management (tel. 8007 2344) and Bank of Valletta plc (Tel 2131 2020).