Financial News

Slim gains in the two largest capitalised companies of the Malta Stock Exchange offset declines in three other equities during yesterday's trading session. As a result the MSE Index gained 0.16 per cent to terminate the week at 5,155 points.

Bank of Valletta was the day's most actively traded equity with 10,965 shares, carrying a market consideration of Lm39,965, exchanged across 17 transactions. The equity notched its third consecutive session of gains with the price advancing by a further 3c or 0.8 per cent to Lm3.65.

HSBC Bank Malta recovered almost its previous session's entire decline on uncharacteristically thin volume. In fact, only a mere 1,060 shares were struck during the entire session helping the price climb to the Lm2.14,9 level.

GlobalCapital was the day's worse performer, shedding 5c or 2.3 per cent to close at Lm2.10, its lowest level in the past six weeks. The company's board of directors is scheduled to meet today to approve the interim results and consider the declaration of an interim dividend.

Maltacom shares traded below the Lm1.80 level for the first time in five months. Typical to the activity following the government's privatisation agreement in April, turnover remained weak with simply 4,400 shares being sold across four transactions to the Lm1.78 level.

Similarly Malta International Airport shares declined 1.4 per cent as 3,225 shares were exchanged across three transactions squeezing the price down to Lm1.33,1.

European bourses lower on inflation fears

Yesterday, London equities fell as online gaming stocks took a hammering on news that the chairman of Sportingbet has been detained by the US authorities. The detention followed the arrest in July of David Carruthers, the former chief executive officer of BetonSports. In the wider market, the FTSE 100 fell one per cent mirroring a poor show on Wall Street overnight, while the FTSE 250 dropped 0.8 per cent.

European equities fell as interest rate concerns resurfaced, hitting riskier assets like technology stocks, while financials fell as the main indices dropped close to four-week lows. By midday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 fell 0.7 per cent while Frankfurt's Xetra Dax shed 0.5 per cent. In Paris, the CAC 40 lost 0.8 per cent.

Japanese stocks fell sharply, hit by the overnight slide on Wall Street and the latest woes at Sony. The Nikkei 225 was down 1.7 per cent and the Topix fell 1.8 per cent.

US markets were set to open lower following through on the previous session's losses, as a series of companies cautioned investors that profits and revenues would be less than expected in the coming months. An hour before markets opened, S&P 500 futures were 2.99 points below fair value, while Nasdaq Composite futures were 2.77 points below fair value.

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).