Waiting for an interest rate decision

EQUITIES ended flat yesterday with trading kept in a close range pending a Central Bank meeting tomorrow to review interest rates.

The benchmark all share index fell 0.15 points, or 0.13 per cent, to a close of 119.51, off an intra-session low of 117.84. Turnover dropped to £3.79 million on 19.1 million shares traded.

The Central Bank’s key lending rate currently stands at 6.0 per cent and has been unchanged since mid-September. “Nobody knows how the Central Bank will react, but I do expect a drop,” said a broker.

But another analyst said it could easily go the other way. The fact that the European Central Bank (ECB) kept its own intervention rate unchanged at 3.75 per cent last week could be a factor in favour of keeping rates unchanged, one said.

The monetary policy committee and the Central Bank board meet tomorrow and an announcement is expected shortly after noon.

Small cap investment shares topped volume ranks on day trading yesterday. Dodoni Investment saw a volume of 5.5 million shares, but ended unchanged at 5.2 cents, off a low of 5.1. CLR Investment fund was also actively traded with 1.55 million shares changing hands, rising fractionally to 13.5 cents.

The FTSE/CySE index ended 0.1 per cent lower at 490.50, paring a weaker open of 486.28 points. The components of the 20-share index are now being reviewed for a reshuffle on December 1, bourse officials said.

Decliners beat advancers 76 to 59 with 34 unchanged on 169 traded. There were 3,900 deals.

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