Following a relatively active session on the Malta Stock Exchange on Thursday, the MSE Index closed slightly higher at 4,662 points, a gain of 0.3 per cent from its previous day reading. Bank of Valletta was the only equity bucking the overall positive trend with total trades reaching a total 36 over across nine equities.
MaltaPost, the day's best performer, traded 2.7 per cent above its previous level, with just a sole low volume trade going through at €0.75.
Building on its previous session's gains achieved following the announcement of its annual results, International Hotel Investments continued its positive run by gaining a further 1c9 or 1.8 per cent, to close at a new 2008 high of €1.09c9. Activity was spread over 5 deals with a total of 12,139 shares changing hands.
Interest in 6pm saw investors swap 21,436 shares across 4 trades, which pushed the price up to the highest level achieved this year. In fact the price closed at £0.73, an increase of 1p or 1.4 per cent above its previous level. Its full year results for the period ended 31st December 2007 are expected to be released on Friday 11th April.
Go gained further ground with 1,700 shares being traded at a premium of 0.8 per cent to the previous day's level, on the execution of 2 transactions to close at €3.01c5. At the end of the session, the best bid stood for 5,000 shares at €2.99c1, whilst the best offer of 10,084 was at €3.01c5. The company will be holding its Annual General Meeting at the end of this week.
Malta International Airport ended with a 0.6 per cent gain, as the equity closed €3.35 over 4 trades for 2,451 shares.
HSBC Bank Malta gained 1c to close at €4.41, on 6,502 shares struck across 6 deals. On the other hand Bank of Valletta was the only equity during the session which traded lower by 4c5 or 0.8 per cent to terminate €5.53. Volume was relatively high with a total of 27,573 shares dealt across 9 transactions.
Trades undertaken in FIMBank and Lombard Bank did not alter their previous price levels, which stood at $1.91 and €13.00, respectively.
Weekly international equity market review
The recent rally in the global equity markets juddered to a halt as investor focus returned to the mounting economic slowdown and its impact on corporate earnings.
US stocks lost ground after Alcoa kicked off the first quarter earnings season with a negative set of results and Washington Mutual said it had secured a $7 billion capital infusion to shore up its capital base.
That news along with a striking report from the International Monetary Fund arguing that financial losses from the US mortgage crisis could hit about $1,000 billion, dragged equities lower.
On Wall Street, the tech heavy Nasdaq Composite index was down by 1.66 per cent to 2,322.12. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.62 per cent while the S&P index was down 0.95 per cent to 1,354.49 points. In the eurozone, fears that further down beat first-quarter sales figures could be in the pipeline weighed on the European stock market. Besides falling technology stocks and weaker banks left European indices nursing losses. Nevertheless, the FTSE 100 still managed higher gauging gains of 1.15 per cent to 5,983.90. On the other hand the CAC-40 in Paris shed 0.75 per cent while Franfurt's Xetra Dax 30 fell 0.83 per cent to 6,721.36.
Technology stocks led the losses on Asian indices with chipmakers bearing the brunt of the selling on forecasts of declining sales and profit warnings from US rivals. The Hang Seng index dropped 0.32 per cent. Meanwhile, in Tokyo the Nikkei 225 index eased 3.32 per cent to 12,945.30.
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.