Financial News

During yesterday's trading session at the Malta Stock Exchange, investors purchased equities close to the previous day's level, as volumes remained particularly high for this time of the year.

Lombard Bank shares remained illiquid and the only supply that hit the market was quickly gobbled up by the bid side. This resulted in the share price rising by a further 5c or 0.8 per cent, to close at a fresh record high of Lm6.35.

Bank of Valletta shares gained a penny as 7,656 shares were exchanged across 19 transactions, closing at a six-month high of Lm5.31.

HSBC Bank Malta was the most liquid stock of the day with 13,348 shares, having a market consideration of Lm77,567, being exchanged across 20 transactions.

Early buying activity did see the share trade at the Lm5.85 level but subsequent selling activity was met by a constant flow of demand at Lm5.80 where the price closed the day.

A slim gain was registered by Maltacom shares, which managed to reclaim the Lm1.39 level on good volume. At the end of the session a further 2,000 shares were best bid at Lm1.39 while at Lm1.40, best offers supplied just 1,000 shares.

Simonds Farsons Cisk was the day's only negative mover having declined 2c7 or 3.1 per cent. The session started on a positive note with the price moving slightly higher but supply hit the floor later on during the session, filling bids down to Lm0.85,2.

Nikkei retreats as oil price hits new record

Hurricane Katrina depressed Wall Street stocks yesterday with retailers and transportation companies suffering most as one of the worst hurricanes to hit the US continued to wreak havoc in the south of the country.

The FTSE 100 was 41.1 points, 0.6 per cent higher, at 5,296.9 in early afternoon trading while the mid-cap FTSE 250 gained 24.6 points, 0.4 per cent, to 7,747.0, approaching a fresh all-time high.

European stocks were higher yesterday, paced by strong gains in the oil sector following a fresh run-up in crude prices to record levels, and as investors shrugged of the economic impact of high energy costs. By midday, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.6 per cent to 1,173.85, while Frankfurt's Xetra Dax added 0.3 per cent to 4,806.47. In Paris, the CAC-40 gained 0.4 per cent to 4,373.24.

Japanese stocks fell a touch yesterday after crude oil prices bounced back to reach a new nominal record. The Nikkei 225 ended 0.3 per cent down at 12,413.60. The Topix declined 0.2 per cent to 1,271.29. The rise in oil prices hit carmakers on fears that demand in the US - an important market - could be damaged. Airlines and shippers, which are heavy users of oil, also fell. The transport equipment sector ended the day down 0.8 per cent, air transport stocks fell 0.6 per cent while sea transport stocks declined 0.5 per cent.