Financial news

Trading activity for the first day of the week on the Malta Stock Exchange ended on a positive note as the index moved up by 0.24 per cent to terminate at the 3,250.4 level. In the equity market, investors negotiated a total of 55 deals in eight different listings.

Lombard Bank Malta was the session's best performer as the equity gained 5c which equates to an increase of 1.9 per cent to close at €2.70. Turnover in the bank consisted of 1,400 shares swapped across two deals.

Bank of Valletta was also on the list of gainers as its share price rose by 4c or 1.1 per cent to end the session at €3.80. The bank also had the day's highest number of trades as investors swapped 32,023 shares transacted across 27 deals.

Turnover was also high in FIMBank shares as investors transacted an aggregate of 29,985 shares over eight trades. The trade finance specialist registered no change in price during the session as it closed unchanged at $1.14.

HSBC Bank Malta was the day's sole laggard as the equity dropped by 1c or 0.4 per cent to close at €2.84.

Medserv and Maltapost were both gainers during the session albeit registering only 0c1 and 0c2 to close at €3.999 and €0.602 respectively.

Go shares registered a 1c increase to close at €1.67.

Middlesea also announced that subject to the approval of the extraordinary and ordinary resolutions at the forthcoming extraordinary general meeting of the company, an offer to subscribe to new ordinary shares of a nominal value of €0.60 will be made to those shareholders on the Register at the Central Securities Depository of the Malta Stock Exchange as at November 12. Trading activity in the company's shares resulted in no change in price to close at €1.25.

The week ahead - Economic indicators for week starting November 9

The economic highlights for the week ahead will feature unemployment rate figures for the United Kingdom and the US trade balance data. In the eurozone, the coming week's indicators will focus on industrial production and Gross Domestic Product data.

In the United States, the nominal trade deficit is expected to widen to $31.8 billion in September after narrowing to $30.7 billion in August. Export prices moved slightly lower in September while import prices were little changed, suggesting some modest nominal widening from price changes. Meanwhile, the Michigan Consumer Confidence Index is expected to increase to a reading of 71, up from October's reading of 70.6. However, in spite of recent optimistic news on economic growth in the third quarter, consumer confidence and spending are likely to be subdued as businesses continue to cut jobs.

In the eurozone, consistent with the improvement across a range of leading indicators, the consensus expects that Gross Domestic Product data will expand by some 0.6 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis in the third quarter for the first time in six quarters. In the meantime, industrial sector is considered pivotal for this rebound. However, industrial production for September is expected to have increased by 0.5 per cent, down from the 0.9 per cent registered a month earlier.

In the United Kingdom, the week's focus is on the ILO unemployment rate for a three month period ending September. This is expected to increase to eight per cent from its previous 7.9 per cent. Meanwhile, the Bank of England will publish its Quarterly Inflation Report, which sets out detailed economic analyses and inflation projections on which the bank's Monetary Policy Committee bases its interest rate decisions.

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.