Financial news

During a relatively mild session yesterday at the Malta Stock Exchange, the MSE Index reverted course when a slight positive gain of 0.17 per cent was registered to close at 4,109 points; this was brought about by increases in three components.

Maltapost shares rallied in the last hour of trading as the equity notched the top spot yesterday. The equity posted in a gain of 1.75 per cent on the execution of 14,533 shares to terminate the session at €0.814.

All trades in International Hotel Investments were executed at €1.02 which equates to an increase of 0c9 or 0.89 per cent over its previous closing price. Aggregate turnover for the day equated to 3,000 shares dealt over three transactions.

A sole trade of 1,398 in Simonds Farsons Cisk shares saw the price rising by 1c to close at €2.72. The company's 61st annual general meeting will be held on June 26. HSBC Bank Malta and Bank of Valletta were both unchanged, with relatively low volumes characterising yesterday's session.

An early trade in FIMBank consisting of 3,720 shares left the equity unaltered at $1.88. Similarly, shares of Grand Harbour Marina remained unchanged at €2.05 on the execution of 5,200 shares across 2 deals.

Meanwhile, interest in Go matched supply to the tune of 2,000 shares struck at €2.65.

In the fixed interest sector of the market, activity was spread across four government stocks and two corporate bonds. The 5.1 per cent MGS 2014 (III) attracted the highest turnover, with 54,941 nominal being swapped over four transactions to close at €99.03, representing a slight increase of 0.03 per cent.

International market report - weekly round-up

Equity markets had a mixed session this week with the US and European equity markets pushing ahead on fresh optimism regarding the economic outlook and fresh losses for oil prices.

Wall Street traded higher at the start of the week under review as strong US retail sales along with lower oil prices and takeover news assisted the mood. The ebullient mood continued on positive developments on the banking front after Lehman Brothers sprang no nasty surprises with its quarterly results. This was short-lived as Wall Street failed to hold to early gains in spite of reassuring results from investment bank Goldman Sachs that handily beat expectations. Goldman Sachs analysts warned that US banks would have to raise as much as $65 billion in capital to shore up balance sheets weakened by the mortgage crisis. In New York the S&P500 was down 1.30 per cent while the Dow Jones Industrial average was 0.45 per cent lower at 12,029.06. The Nasdaq composite was the only weekly gainer with an increase of 1.49 per cent.

A wave of bid speculation lifted European equity markets out of the doldrums. The FTSE 100 rose 0.51 per cent to 5,756.90 as the Bank of England dented talk of higher UK interest rates. A decline in most banking shares along with a drop in food producers pushed European shares lower. Germany's Xetra Dax gained 0.98 per cent while the CAC 40 eased by 1.42 per cent.

Asian markets had a good start to the week with gains for export oriented stocks pushing the Nikkei higher as the yen weakened against the dollar. On the other hand the Hang Seng Index ended lower at the 22,797.61 level.

This article has been prepared by Bank of Valletta p.l.c. (the Bank), which is licensed to conduct investment services business by the MFSA, for your general information only. This information is not a solicitation or offer by the Bank to acquire or sell securities. Nor does it constitute any form of advice by the Bank. Appropriate advice should be obtained before making any such decision. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance and the value of your investments may fall or rise.