Equity trading during yesterday's session at the Malta Stock Exchange was conducted in a calm and orderly manner with prices remaining range-bound, as investors shied away from taking decisive market-moving actions.
Negative sentiment continued to surround Bank of Valletta, which registered declines for the forth session out of the past five. During the session, the equity declined to the Lm4.08 level. However, at a later stage, buyers came in to provide support at Lm4.10, thereby trimming the day's decline to just 2c or 0.5 per cent.
On the contrary, HSBC Bank Malta closed higher for its fifth time in the past six sessions. On transactional volume of 17,064 shares, the equity gained 2c to close the session at Lm2.46, its highest level for the past fortnight.
Global Financial Services Group was the day's top gainer as 4,000 shares were purchased across six transactions. Investors continued to respond positively to the company's recent bond offering which was fully subscribed. The day's gains amounted to 3c or 1.4 per cent, thereby pushing the price up to Lm2.08.
Activity in Maltacom remained positive, with the equity gaining a further 0c5 to close the day at Lm1.95. The day's volume amounted to a modest 4,360 shares which were struck across five deals.
Elsewhere, 100 shares of Middlesea Insurance were sold in rapid succession across two transactions squeezing the price lower by 0c5 or 0.1 per cent to Lm5.17. Middlesea Insurance had drifted lower recently on a spate of low volume selling activity.
Unease as London hands back much of its gains
European equity markets gave up most of Tuesday's gains by midday yesterday after a late sell off on Wall Street.
The FTSE Eurofirst 300, which in the previous session enjoyed its best day since March 2003, fell 1.8 per cent. The Xetra Dax in Frankfurt was down 1.9 per cent and the CAC-40 in Paris shed 1.9 per cent.
Wall Street was looking at a mixed opening, following through on a sell-off that unnerved investors in late trading on Tuesday. Economic data provided some relief. An hour before the bell, S&P 500 futures were up 4.73 points below fair value, while Nasdaq Composite futures were 9.4 points below fair value.
Recent volatility in the London equities markets continued as the FTSE 100 index fell sharply. The slide erased nearly all of the previous session's gains as City traders struggled to judge where the market would head next. After an unsettled opening phase, the FTSE 100 was down two per cent. The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was off 1.9 per cent.
The Nikkei 225 yesterday rose at its fastest pace since March, bouncing back after Tuesday's sharp fall. The Nikkei closed two per cent higher at 15,907.20. The Topix rose 1.7 per cent to 1,606.01.
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.