Aurora Cannabis is growing strong | Calamatta Cuschieri

The Maltese market closed in the green on Tuesday, with MSE Equity Total Return Index ending the session 0.183% higher, to 8,944.533 points. Top gainer was Bank of Valletta plc followed by Trident Estates plc, adding 1.60% and 0.74% to close at 1.27 and 1.36 respectively. The biggest faller was BMIT Technologies plc which closed 0.93% lower, to 0.535. RS2 Software plc shed 0.71% to close at 1.39. Simonds Farsons Cisk plc, Grand Harbour Marina plc, GO plc, Malta Properties Company plc and Main Street Complex plc closed unchanged.

US markets ended lower on Tuesday in choppy trading as indexes bounced in and out of positive territory on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony to Congress. The Fed boss reiterated the central bank’s wait-and-see approach to monetary policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 33.97 points to 26,057.98, the S&P 500 index lost 2.62 points to 2,793.49, and the Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 5.16 points to 7,549.30.

European stocks also dropped as a boost in the Pound weighed on the FTSE 100 and investors awaited clarify on US President Donald Trump’s China tariff deadline extension. The Stoxx Europe 600 lost 0.3% with the UK’s FTSE 100 dropping 0.8%. Germany’s DAX lost 0.3% to close at 11,468.61.

Aurora’s purchase of Portuguese company

Aurora Cannabis announced the acquisition of a 51% stake in Portugal’s Gaia Pharma Lda. The Canadian marihuana manufacturer plans to build a facility in Portugal that produces medical cannabis and other derivative products. Gaia pharma has just won approval to build a GMP compliant cannabis facility. Aurora shares went up 3% on the news.

Aurora-backed Australis Capital said that it was itself acquiring the California based cannabis brand Mr. Natural Productions Inc. for $1.3 million. Its shares went up over 1% on the news.

With the Acquisition, Aurora Cannabis is quickly establishing itself as the leader in the rapidly growing market around the world.

Trump and Kim’s upcoming summit

Asian markets closed mixed ahead of the upcoming meeting between president Trump and Kim Jong Un in Vietnam. This will be their second meeting in less than a year. The talks are expected to revolve around Pyongyang’s nuclear program in return for sanction relief. A number of analysts have stated that they have mild expectations for these talks.

A senior advisor at International Crisis Group, CNBC on Wednesday "We had a vague but productive statement coming out of Singapore but nobody is willing, I think, to hear the same kind of ... not concrete response this time around.”
 

This article was issued by Aaron Saliba, Junior Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article are being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.