Markets rebound - publishers recoup some value

Ubisoft, one of the biggest losers in Monday's financial markets meltdown, has managed to regain some of its value loss as its stock climbed 11.7 per cent yesterday, following a 14.4 per cent loss at the beginning of the week.

And Activision Blizzard's share price jumped 9.3 per cent in value, compared to a 13.8 per cent fall the previous day, which had seen over USD 3 billion wiped off the value of the super-publisher's market capitalisation.

Microsoft, Take-Two and THQ also saw reasonable gains over the day, rising 6.7 per cent, 6.3 per cent and 4.9 per cent in the 24-hour recovery period, although all three publishers are still some way off finding Monday's opening price again.

Eidos parent company SCi at one point almost bounced back to its weekend value of 30.5 pence before slipping at the end of the day to 28.5 pence.

But while most companies saw gains linked to the rise in the markets themselves, most were only modest jumps. Electronic Arts, which lost 9 per cent on Monday, regained just 2.8 per cent yesterday, while Sony recouped 1.3 per cent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange compared to a 6.5 per cent loss previously.

And Nintendo, which lost 4.5 per cent on Monday, lost a further 4.9 per cent by the close of trading today, bringing it to its lowest value for over a year at JPY 41,000 (USD 386).

The reason for the general optimism in the markets is a general belief that the US Senate will vote through the USD 700 billion life raft package, given the changes that have been made since Congress threw it out on Monday, while other financial institutions across the globe have been pumping more cash into money markets.