Some last-minute buying in a number of equities helped the Malta Stock Exchange Index reverse earlier losses to close the session barely in positive territory at 5,113.046 points.

Bank of Valletta was a standout gainer having rallied by a further 5c or 1.3 per cent during the session to close near a two-month high of Lm3.94. The equity has managed to recover by over 12 per cent, since touching a low of Lm3.50 a month ago, as activity started to pick up in anticipation of the full-year results.

In the rest of the banking sector, shares of the other major bank, HSBC Bank Malta continued to trade practically flat, around the Lm2.08 level. Meanwhile, shares of Lombard Bank Malta were down 1.7 per cent to Lm4.60 as lack of buying interest forced down the hands of sellers.

Middlesea Insurance shares remained under pressure, this time falling by a hefty 6.6 per cent, to Lm2.04,9. The share price has lost almost 45c since the publication of the interim results on September 22 as the group reported a fall of 42 per cent in pre-tax profit compared to a prior year period.

The other session's movers were Maltacom and International Hotel Investments which both were up one cent, to Lm1.65 and €0.97, respectively. Both equities traded weaker throughout the session but managed to recover by the closing bell.

FTSE 100 falls as oil companies weigh

European equities fell yesterday as technology stocks tracked their US and Asian counterparts lower after a number of downgrades, while energy companies were hit by falling oil prices. In early trade, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.6 per cent, while Frankfurt's Xetra Dax fell 0.7 per cent. In Paris, the CAC 40 shed 0.7 per cent.

Technology stocks suffered after the US Nasdaq fell overnight following a downgrade of Apple Computer by Citigroup. Japanese tech issues were also on the decline after Goldman Sachs downgraded the likes of Sony and Pioneer. London equities fell sharply with oil majors undermined by lower crude prices. BP, the UK's largest company, was down 2.2 per cent as the crude price fell below $61 a barrel amid concern about high US inventories. In the wider market, the FTSE 100 index was down 0.8 per cent in late morning.

The FTSE 250 lost 0.7 per cent as the mid-cap benchmark fell back below the 10,000 level.

Japanese stocks fell mildly hit by Goldman Sachs' downgrades of tech stocks and profit taking on some recent high-flying sectors such as real estate. The broad Topix index fell 0.5 per cent. The Nikkei 225 slipped 0.1 per cent.

BOV and VFM are licensed by the MFSA to conduct investment services business.

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