Financial news
IHI at a new record high
A significant fall in the price of Maltacom limited the Malta Stock Exchange Index's advance yesterday as renewed interest in equities dominated the session. The MSE Index ended the session in slightly positive ground, up by 0.4 per cent to 4,881.186 points.
Shares of Maltacom dipped by 3.4 per cent during the session, closing at the low end of the day's trading range. Volumes in aggregate amounted to 12,177 shares which were spread across nine trades.
Also slightly in negative territory terminated shares of Bank of Valletta which lost a mere 0c1 to end the day at Lm3.66,9. The other major bank - HSBC Bank Malta moved in opposite direction gaining 0c5, to end the day at Lm1.92.
During the session, Lombard Bank Malta published its full year results for the period ended December 31, 2006, which witnessed a 5.5 per cent increase in pre-tax profit to Lm3.87 million.
The board of directors is recommending a net dividend of 8c1 to all registered shareholders of the company as at March 23, 2007.
A mere 300 shares were exchanged during the session, with the share price closing flat at Lm5.
The day's top gainer was International Hotel Investments which closed the day at a record high of €1.171 after gaining €0.061 throughout the session. Turnover was for an aggregate 34,447 shares which were exchanged over eight deals.
European stocks higher
Yesterday, European equities opened higher as banking and insurance stocks benefited from some solid results, while rallying oil prices lifted the energy sector. By midday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.9 per cent, Frankfurt's Xetra Dax gained 0.8 per cent and the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.9 per cent.
London equities continued to recover amid a rally in the beleaguered mining sector. Mining stocks were at the forefront of last week's sell-off because they are largely seen as a proxy on global growth. However, the sector crowded the FTSE 100 leaderboard for a second consecutive day. The gains helped the FTSE 100 rise 43.1 points to 6,199.6 by late morning, still on course for its third straight day of gains. The mid-cap FTSE 250 was 112.7 points stronger at 11,297.1 as support services stocks made headway.
The Japanese stock market rose strongly in afternoon trading, boosted by a rally in the Nikkei futures market ahead of today's settlement of the March futures contract. By the end of trading the Nikkei 225 Average had risen 1.9 per cent as did the broader Topix.
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.