Financial news

FIMBank shares gained over 1.7 per cent yesterday on the back of strong full-year results for the period ended December 31, 2006, published before the start of the session. This increase was, however, more than offset by a decline in index heavyweight HSBC Bank Malta which dragged the benchmark 0.26 per cent lower to close the at 5,085.759 points.

Investors reacted positively to FIMBank's results, snatching all the previous day's supply of 24,000 shares at the US$1.74 level and pushing the share price even higher to close the day at US$1.77.

Malta International Airport shares gained 3c6 or 2.67 per cent to Lm1.386 on the back of two trades for an aggregate 3,000 shares in volume.

In contrast, high volume trading in HSBC Bank Malta dragged the price lower by 0.98 per cent. The catalyst for this drop was a single trade executed five minutes into the session with 368,000 shares exchanging hands at the day's average price of Lm2.147.

Bank of Valletta was the only other share together with HSBC that closed the session marginally lower, as 16 trades carrying a monetary value of Lm6,732.49 were executed. This eroded 0.2 of a cent from the equity's opening price of Lm3.69.

Trades in Maltacom and Middlesea Insurance shares had no impact on the companies' previous day's closing prices, as the equities closed the session at Lm1.44,9 and Lm1.98 respectively.

Nikkei breaches 18,000 after rates move

London equities regained upward momentum yesterday, as a series of strong earnings reports helped the FTSE 100 back towards the 6,400 level. The senior index rose 0.6 per cent. The mid-cap FTSE 250 was 0.3 per cent stronger, fuelled by robust corporate news flow.

Insurers helped lift European equities, as markets recovered from the previous session's losses when fears over inflation and interest rates drove them off recent six-year highs. By midday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was 0.5 per cent higher. Frankfurt's Xetra Dax added 0.8 per cent and the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.5 per cent.

Japanese stocks rose strongly, responding to the Bank of Japan's interest rates increase and its remarks that the rates will rise further only gradually. The BoJ raised rates from 0.25 per cent to 0.5 per cent on Wednesday, the highest level in more than a decade, signalling the central bank's confidence in the underlying strength of the economy. The move led to strong rises across the board, including domestically focused and export stocks. The Nikkei 225 breached the 18,000 level for the first time in almost seven years, ending the day up 1.1 per cent to 18,108.79. The broader Topix advanced 0.9 per cent.

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