Stocks end mixed

Wall Street ended sharply higher at the close of a broad rally on Thursday, bouncing back from three straight days of selling on upbeat labor market data. All three major U.S. stock indexes notched solid gains, with the S&P 500 enjoying its biggest percentage gain in over a month. The Nasdaq, weighed by Tesla Inc, picked up the rear. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 433.79 points, or 1.29%, to 34,021.45, the S&P 500 gained 49.46 points, or 1.22%, to 4,112.5 and the Nasdaq Composite added 93.31 points, or 0.72%, to 13,124.99.

European stocks meanwhile dipped, weighed down by a fall in heavyweight miners after commodity prices tumbled, while a rapid rise in U.S. inflation kept risk sentiment at bay. The pan-European STOXX 600 index edged down 0.1%, after falling as much as 1.7% earlier in the session, drifting further away from an all-time high. Basic resources fell 3.0%, leading declines among European sectors, while oil and gas slipped 1.4%. The sectors were among recent market leaders on the back of a surge in commodity prices. Automakers also shed 0.9%, while defensive names like utilities, healthcare and telecoms rose.

Maltese markets also moved lower with the MSE Equity Total Return Index losing 0.49 percent to 8,277.303 points. RS2 Software Plc led the losses with shares down 4.26 percent at €1.80, followed by Bank of Valletta Plc which lost 2.17 percent to €0.90. Harvest Technology Plc posted the largest gain with shares up 2.67 percent at €1.54. The MSE Malta Government Stocks Total Return Index lost 0.17 percent to 1,121.033 points while the MSE Corporate Bonds Total Return Index added 0.07 percent to 1,122.513 points.

Source: Reuters, Malta Stock Exchange

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