Financial News

Although demand for banking sector equity remained high, a solid supply of shares finally surfaced during yesterday's trading session at the Malta Stock Exchange. Thanks to gains elsewhere in the market, the MSE index powered to its 14th consecutive rise in value.

A total of 15,460 shares of Bank of Valletta were exchanged across 40 trades during the day. Initial buying activity helped the price touch a fresh record high of Lm7.26,1, however the price closed a penny weaker at Lm7.24.

HSBC Bank Malta maintained its record level of Lm7.25 as 12,825 shares were exchanged across eight trades.

All shares were executed within a wafer-thin trade range which allowed only a 0c1 movement above and below the previous closing price.

In the meantime, two shareholders exchanged 1,000 shares of FIMBank at a 0.5 per cent premium, helping the equity close at a new fresh record high of $1.96. Supply for a further 4,000 shares remained unsatisfied on the offer side.

The biggest action was in Maltacom where 78,220 shares were exchanged across 18 transactions. This included a single purchase order of more than 76,000 shares which was executed halfway through the session. This transaction pushed the price higher by 2c1 or 1.2 per cent to the Lm1.75 level.

Elsewhere in the market, 4,000 shares of Middlesea Insurance were swapped across a single transaction at the Lm3.50,1 level.

Miners push FTSE into the red

A strong performance from Philips and a higher close on Wall Street were not enough to halt the slide for European stocks yesterday, as weakness struck the heavily-weighted oil, banking and pharmaceutical sectors. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.2 per cent at 1,260.87, while Frankfurt's Xetra Dax fell 0.1 per cent to 5,283.77.

In Paris, the CAC 40 was off 0.2 per cent to 4,665.78 and London's FTSE 100 slipped 0.3 per cent to 5,506.3.

In London, oil stocks weighed on the main index as crude prices slipped following a rise in US stockpiles. Mining stocks also lost ground after reports of overcapacity in parts of the Chinese economy, demand from which has underpinned this year's advances in the sector.

Overnight in New York on Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.6 per cent to 10,883.51, and the S&P 500 gained 0.4 per cent to 1,272.74 but the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1 per cent to 2,262.59. Traders watched a weakening dollar pressure exporters but tech stocks fared well and supported the gains.

Tokyo shares fell yesterday after exporters such as carmakers and tech manufacturers were hit by the dollar's slide to its lowest level against the yen in a month. Most domestic sectors performed little better, as investors continued to show scepticism about recent market rises in the wake of Wednesday's weaker-than-expected Tankan survey. The Nikkei 225 finished the day down 1.4 per cent at 15,254.44. The Topix fell 1.2 per cent to 1,583.66.