Financial News

The local equity market ended lower for the second consecutive day, as a broad-based sell-off pushed equities away from record highs. The Malta Stock Exchange Index lost 0.7 per cent to 3,943 points.

HSBC Bank Malta fell by 0.6 per cent to Lm6.45, bringing to an end a three-week rally which has seen the equity advancing by over 22 per cent.

A similar trading performance was registered in FIMBank shares which lost their all-time high of $1.90, to close $0.10 weaker, as supply in the equity has started to accumulate.

Maltacom shares had quite a busy session with the equity managing to limit its losses by the close. Initially the share price fell to Lm1.49 but recovered to Lm1.14,5 by the end. Further support to the equity may come from the interim results of the group which are expected to be released today.

Bank of Valletta shares bucked the trend with the equity gaining a mere one cent to Lm5.46. A total of 6,162 shares changed hands during the session over 18 deals, with the share price trading within a very narrow range.

In the remaining trades for the day, Malta International Airport and Middlesea Insurance both ended weaker at Lm1.36,3 and Lm3.05, respectively.

In the fixed income market trading was limited to four government stock and one corporate issue. In general prices moved marginally higher with the five per cent MGS 2021A Fungible Tranche C back into action after some days of inactivity.

Ex-dividends pull London into red

European stocks yesterday reclaimed a little of the previous session's losses as oil prices steadied around $63 a barrel, and as takeover speculation focused on defence electronics company Thales.

The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.1 per cent to 1,202.76, while the CAC-40 in Paris gained 0.3 per cent to 4,467.96. Frankfurt's Xetra Dax however, fell 0.1 per cent to 4,895.53 as uncertainty about the political landscape in Germany continued to weigh. London's FTSE 100 was down 0.1 per cent to 5,332.1.

In New York on Tuesday, stocks followed the sell off seen across most of Europe. After a couple of earnings misses and some profit warnings, the S&P 500 closed down 0.8 per cent to 1231.- its worst session since hurricane Katrina hit the US. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8 per cent to 10,597.44 and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.5 per cent to 2,171.75.

Japanese stocks fell moderately yesterday, as profit-taking and increased fears over US economic prospects outweighed the lingering euphoria of the Prime Minister's resounding weekend re-election victory. The Nikkei 225 fell 0.5 per cent to close at 12,834.25. The Topix edged down 0.3 per cent to 1,312.35.

Some Japanese technology stocks fell in tandem with their US counterparts in Tuesday trading. Sony, the consumer electronics giant, dropped 1.7 per cent to Y3,980. Carmakers also fell a touch, as analysts continued to worry about the economy in the US, a major market for Japanese cars. Transport equipment as a whole fell 0.3 per cent. Toyota declined 0.4 per cent to Y4,700.