Financial News

Local investors continued to show a renewed interest in selected equities yesterday as the MSE index gained 0.2 per cent to reclaim the 5,100 level for the first time in the last four weeks.

HSBC Bank Malta was the best performing equity with demand clearing 28,885 shares off the offer side across 35 transactions. In the process, the equity gained 3c or 1.4 per cent, thereby closing the day at the Lm2.13 level.

Bank of Valletta shares touched a new 2007 high during the session, however slight selling activity towards the end of the day prevented the price from closing at Lm3.72 and terminated unchanged at Lm3.70.

On the contrary, Lombard Bank suffered under a lack of bids in the market when 1,550 shares were exchanged across two transactions dropping the price by 34c8 or 6.5 per cent to Lm5. At the end of the session, the best bid was for 128 shares at Lm4.65 while supply was for 10,000 shares which were best offered at Lm5.15.

Malta International Airport gained 2c4 or 1.7 per cent as 6,000 shares were swapped across five transactions. The equity rose steadily throughout the session, terminating at Lm1.399, the highest level of the day.

Maltacom shed 3c or two percentage points to Lm1.45, as 7,000 shares were offloaded across five transactions. Concurrently, GlobalCapital shares declined by a further 7c5 or 3.5 per cent to Lm2.05 on low volume selling activity.

Mixed earnings leave impact on European stocks

European equity markets were flat yesterday as investors mulled a flood of earnings reports, while profits were taken after the previous session's fresh run-up to six-year highs. There was also an element of caution in the market due to interest rate decisions from the Bank of England and the European Central Bank.

At 1200 GMT, the BoE left UK rates on hold at 5.25 per cent, following a surprise hike last month. The ECB, 45 minutes later, left eurozone rates at 3.5 per cent. By midday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.2 per cent, Frankfurt's Xetra Dax was off 0.1 per cent and the CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.2 per cent.

Japan's Topix stock index fell, hit by sell-offs in recently strong sectors such as shipping and real estate. By the end of trading, the Topix had declined 0.5 per cent to 1,720.18. But the Nikkei 225 index ended virtually unchanged at 17,292.48, buoyed by mild strength among the shares of heavy exporters in response to a slightly weaker yen.

Overnight Wall Street stocks retreated from early gains, with confidence in technology stocks offsetting weakness in the energy sector after oil prices fell.

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.