EQUITY prices moved a shade lower yesterday as traded values surged to a year high on speculative buys once again dominated by investment, industrial and tourism stocks.
Blue chips came under selling pressure on buying interest for select small and medium company stocks, which absorbed the bulk of £60.9 million worth of shares changing hands yesterday.
It was the highest turnover the market has reached since its heyday last November, and before a cycle of corrections began.
Tourism shares, led by more buying in Constantinou Bros Hotels, outperformed the broad market with a 2.23 per cent gain.
However, the bell-wether banking index registered a 0.9 per cent drop, skimming opening gains off the broad CSE index, which ended the session 0.03 per cent lower.
The market had opened with losses of 0.06 per cent, virtually unchanged from Monday’s dealings, but see-sawed with a plus and minus of three points in the general index throughout the 90 minutes of trade.
Constantinou Bros dominated trading with 6.8 million shares changing hands as it lurched 10 cents higher to £1.08.
The stock, most sought after from the opening minutes when it jostled with block trades on Cyprus Cement for dominating volumes, had hit a high of £1.18 on its second day of trading.
Constantinou Bros had opened at 75 cents during Monday’s CSE debut.
Small cap share K&G Complex was second placed in terms of high turnover with a volume of more than four million shares. The penny stock added five cents, ending a fraction over 30.
"Banks have been put on the sidelines for the moment and that is reflected in the general index, which was marginally lower," said CLR’s Socrates Socratous.
"But we are seeing incredible fluctuations on many of the smaller titles which are the subject of speculation."
Toxotis, of which CLR Investments now own some 47 per cent, climbed more than 25 per cent to £2.99 and on 560,000 shares changing hands.
Toxotis is widely rumoured to be CLR’s ticket into the bourse, but Socratous was noncommittal on the company’s plans.
"That was never a purpose in itself, nor is it now," he said.
The company has also announced plans to make a bid for Europrofit, which has not stopped climbing since it entered the market last week. It closed at £4.27 yesterday, compared to its low of £2.37 on May 31.
A wave of consolidations and takeovers by larger firms fishing for smaller ones looks like it is turning nasty on at least one front.
Plans by MarketTrends to mount a bid for Efremico took a new twist yesterday after Efremico majority shareholder Nicos Efrem spurned the offer.
Not to be outdone, MarketTrends took large adverts out in at least two newspapers yesterday, accusing Efrem of attempting to scupper the proposal in violation of CSE
rules.
Efrem has been dismissive of the takeover bid and has been quoted in one newspaper as saying he regarded it as hostile.
MarketTrends questioned Efrem’s assertion that he controlled some 30 per cent of Efremico, and said that it had asked the Securities Exchange Commission and the CSE to remove Efrem from the firm’s board of directors.
