Local equities sprung back into positive territory during the penultimate trading session for 2006 as a fresh bout of buying activity gave a new lease of life to the market. The MSE index closed the session 0.34 per cent higher at 4,826 points.

Banking equities provided much of the lift to the Index with Lombard Bank topping the sector leaders with a 2.8 per cent gain. Buying activity was particularly robust as 23,080 shares were scooped up across 11 trades, thereby pushing the price up by 15c to Lm5.50, its highest level since mid-August.

FIMBank climbed 1.7 per cent to t $1.73, while Bank of Valletta too managed to turn around as renewed buying activity cleared all supply at the Lm3.55 level and later deals were struck 2c or 0.6 per cent higher at the Lm3.57 level.

HSBC Bank Malta dampened the mood when the final trade of the day was struck at the Lm1.91 level, thereby inflicting a 1c or 0.5 per cent decline to the equity.

Plaza Centres was the day's top gainer, climbing almost three per cent to close the day at a seven-month high of 70c. A 2c monetary gain was also registered by Maltacom and GlobalCapital as the former climbed 1.4 per cent to Lm1.49, while the latter's gain was for 0.9 per cent, and finished the day at Lm2.18.

Malta International Airport rallied by 3c5 or 2.6 per cent to close at Lm1.37 while elsewhere, two investors swapped 1,000 shares of Medserv for a 1c premium, at the Lm1.36 level. A single sale order of 3,770 shares in Simonds Farsons Cisk was executed at the 80c level, which represents a 1c9 or 2.3 per cent discount.

Negative performance by Europe and London equity markets

European equities were lower yesterday, in spite of strong overnight gains on Wall Street, as falls for oil stocks offset gains for banks and real estate companies. Property stocks shone as investors welcomed encouraging news from the ailing US housing market as data showed sales of new homes rose 3.4 per cent in November, beating forecasts. By midday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.1 per cent as did Frankfurt's Xetra Dax. The CAC 40 in Paris and London's FTSE 100 were down 0.2 per cent respectively.

Overnight gains on Wall Street and a drop in oil prices boosted Asian stocks, sending indices in Hong Kong and Australia to record highs. Hong Kong's Hang Seng stock average surpassed the 20,000 threshold for the first time to touch 20,038.23 during the day before ending 1.4 per cent higher at 20,001.91.

In Japan, stocks were also boosted by data showing rising US home sales which suggested stronger consumer confidence. The Nikkei 225 average rose over 17,300 during the day for the first time since early May. But the initial boost was undermined by a lack of participants, with Nikkei finishing only 0.01 per cent higher at 17,224.81.

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.

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