The Royal Gazette/Bermuda Stock Exchange Index soared last week as the proposed sale of Bank of Bermuda pushed up the price of Bank of Butterfield shares by $4 - an 11 percent hike.

Bank of Butterfield closed the week on a 52-week high of $39.50 - it had reached as low as $27.27 during the year. It traded a massive 31,635 shares during the week.

Bank of Bermuda, which hardly trades on the BSX anymore after listing on the Nasdaq, also rose in price, but only by a modest 50 cents to close at $38.50. HSBC is offering $45 per share as part of its buy-out deal announced last week.

Masters gained $1.50 to finish at $8.50, Bermuda Computer Services gained $4.50 to close at $10 and KeyTech, the parent company of BTC and Logic Communications gained 25 cents to end the week at $10.

The index closed up 118.52 points or 4.28 percent at 2,770.86. This was on a larger than normal volume of 95,541 shares worth $1,637,579.25.