Financial news

Activity dried up during yesterday's trading session at the Malta Stock Exchange with low volume selling action impacting negatively on prices across the board. As a result the MSE Index closed the day weaker by a 0.26 per cent at 4,864 points.

Bank of Valletta was the day's most liquid and actively traded equity. Having said that, a mere 2,379 shares were exchanged across just three transactions, for a total market consideration of barely Lm8,560. The equity closed the session weaker by two tenths of a cent at Lm3.59,8.

The day's total turnover in HSBC Bank Malta amounted to 405 shares which were swapped in two separate transactions forcing the price lower by 1c to Lm1.94. The largest listed company will be reporting its interim results this Monday, July 30.

GlobalCapital suffered the biggest fall as a single investor sold 100 shares to the best bid on the market, standing at Lm1.90. Whilst this represents a 10c2 or five per cent discount to its previously traded price, concurrently in excess of Lm1.3 million worth of market capitalisation was lost on a deal worth less than Lm200.

Simonds Farsons Cisk bucked the trend gaining two percentage points and reclaiming the Lm1 level as 1,562 shares were purchased in a single deal across two transactions. In an interim report issued yesterday, the company's Board of Directors sounded a positive note by stating that the financial results for the period will be favourably impacted by a subsidiary's sale of some properties at a profit.

Malta International Airport failed to trade as investors opted to sit on the sidelines ahead of the company's interim results which were reported after the close of the session.

European stocks remain negative

European stocks fell on concern mergers and acquisitions will diminish as the financing of takeovers becomes more difficult. National benchmarks dropped in all of the 18 western European markets. France's CAC 40 slipped 1.5 per cent and Germany's DAX fell 1.4 per cent. The Stoxx 50 and the Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the euro region, both lost 1.3 per cent.

London equities lost ground on a busy day for corporate earnings. Oil stocks gained as supply worries drove crude oil prices above $76 a barrel and Royal Dutch Shell reported higher second-quarter earnings. The FTSE 100, which was higher in early trade, moved lower by mid-day. The main index was down 0.5 per cent, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 slid 1.1 per cent.

The Nikkei sank to a two-month low, hit by worries about upcoming national elections Sunday. Those concerns outweighed a string of positive quarterly earnings results, pushing the Nikkei 225 down 0.9 per cent by the close. The broader Topix sank one per cent.

Overnight on Wall Street stocks closed higher as investors responded to generally upbeat company earnings from companies including Amazon and Boeing and got to grips with fresh housing market data.

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.