Markets Summary and Apple’s response to Google | Calamatta Cuschieri

The MSE Equity Price Index traded fractionally higher as a result of five companies’ gains being higher when compared to the losses in other five shares. Malta Properties Company plc and MIDI plc had an increase of 5.3%, €0.70 and 4.1%, €0.635 respectively. While BMIT Technologies and FIMBank plc bounced higher to 1.9%, €0.53 and 1.6%, $0.65 respectively. If one takes a look to the banking sector, Bank of Valletta had a decrease of 0.9% which resulted to a price of €1.13 whilst HSBC Bank Malta plc also slipped by 1.3% to €1.48. Simonds Farsons Cisk plc had only one trade which left the price at €10.30. Farsons is scheduled to announce its July interim financial statements on the 25th of September. Tigné Mall plc kept a price level of €0.90 and on the 10th September close of trading, shareholders will received interim dividend of €0.0131 per share. On the other hand, Main Street Complex plc stayed at a €0.60 price level and on the 11th of September close of trading, shareholders will receive interim dividend of €0.00831 per share. 

European Stocks flat ahead of U.S. payrolls

After two sessions of gains the European markets were flat. This was a result of the week’s positive signals on the U.S.-China trade talks together with the lack of investors’ attention on European politics due to the anticipation of the U.S. jobs data. The pan-European STOXX 600 index stayed approximately at the same level, while the FTSE 100 had a decrease due to a fall in the London-listed miners. Thyssenkrupp AG, a German metal fabrication company, had the highest gains in the DAX index of 1.3%. This gain came after Finland’s Kone reported that it was thinking to join forces with a private equity partner to bid for the conglomerate’s elevator business.

Apple fires back at Google, over iPhone security flaws

Apple responded to a Google report that said malicious websites could exploit Apple security flaws to hack iPhones and steal personal data, including text messages, photos and contacts. The mentioned report was posted online a month ago, and mentioned a series of websites had exploited security holes in iPhone software that existed for the past two years, but the report did not classify the nature of the websites.

Apple responded these attacks by publishing a worded statement that the attacks outlines by Google were through websites targeted toward Uighurs, a Muslim ethnic minority in China, implying that the websites were not a serious threat to Americans or most people in other parts of the world. The United Nations has accused China of human rights abuses toward the Uighurs, which China denies. Apple’s statement confirmed the vulnerabilities while also challenging Google’s framing of the exploits. Apple said that the Google post creates the “false impression of ‘mass exploitation.’”

Apple also challenged Google’s claims that the attacks were operational for years and said the flaws mentioned by Google were fixed in February, 10 days after it learned of the exploits.The exploits were published by Google Project Zero, an elite bug-finding team that finds flaws in software from major companies. After finding a flaw, the team informs the company and gives it a time limit to fix the critical bugs, which are known as “zero day” vulnerabilities. The stated mission is to make all software harder to hack.

However, the report also doubled as a way for Google to publicly needle Apple’s security and privacy policies, which the iPhone maker has increasingly leaned on as a major marketing tool and a way to differentiate its products from Android. The Project Zero post did not mention any attacks on Android, which is used by more people than Apple’s iOS. 

This article was issued by Peter Petrov, Junior Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, https://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.