Financial News

A gentle drift in a few equity prices yesterday weighed on the MSE index, which hence closed in negative territory, albeit by just 0.1 per cent, for the fifth consecutive session.

A single transaction in Maltacom saw 580 shares swapped between two transactions at the Lm1.71 level. The equity effectively commenced trading ex-dividend as from Tuesday's session and the 1c5 decline in price is equivalent to the net amount of interim dividend proposed by the board of directors. The daily turnover in Maltacom shares has declined to historical lows since Tecom Investments' subsidiary bought the controlling stake in the company from the government at Lm1.55,4 on May 19.

Similarly, a single transaction for 440 shares of GlobalCapital brought a 1c or 0.5 per cent decline in the closing price which terminated at its lowest level in four months, at the Lm2 support level. GlobalCapital published its interim results last week, reporting a profit before tax for the six months ended June 30 of Lm1,074,667.

Middlesea Insurance was the day's only gainer, with the equity moving higher by the slimmest of margins as 800 shares were purchased across three transactions. Middlesea Insurance will be reporting on its interim performance this Friday.

International Hotel Investments was the day's most actively traded equity with 44,519 shares being exchanged across five transactions at the €0.95 level. Turnover volume in IHI has increased over the past few sessions especially since the company allotted 2,500,000 shares at €1 each to HSBC No-Load Funds SICAV plc on September 12.

Tokyo stocks flat as yen weakens abates

European equity markets were undermined by a slump in investor confidence in Germany as measured by the Zew survey yesterday. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 fell 0.5 per cent while the German Xetra Dax lost 0.7 per cent and the French CAC 40 retreated 0.8 per cent.

With the Federal Reserve due to announce its latest decision on US interest rates today, many investors were expected to remain on the sidelines awaiting further clarity on the outlook for monetary policy.

The Tokyo market ended flat, with modest gains from exporters and some materials companies counterbalanced by losses in many domestically focused stocks. The benchmark Nikkei 225 average was up 0.1 per cent while the broader Topix index was down 0.1 per cent. Export stocks were up a touch on continued yen weakness. However, the yen's failure to weaken further clawed back many of the morning gains in export shares by the afternoon.

Wall Street was set to open lower as investors digested the latest reading on inflation, which showed a sharp fall in the producer price index and in new housing starts. An hour before markets opened, S&P 500 futures were 0.48 points below fair value, while Nasdaq Composite futures were 0.92 points below fair value.

The financial news was compiled by Valletta Fund Management (tel. 8007 2344) and Bank of Valletta plc (Tel 2131 2020). BOV and VFM are licensed by the MFSA to conduct investment services business.