The Royal Gazette/Bermuda Stock Exchange Index yesterday rose 17.41 points, or 0.47 percent to 3,696.89 as Butterfield Bank shares closed at $45.

Butterfield Bank rose 50 cents on volume of 12,838 shares while the only other issue to change price was Belco Holdings Ltd. which closed at $40.25 on volume of 1,160 shares, a change of 75 cents.

The Bermuda Insurance Index, which tracks publicly traded Bermuda-based insurers, slumped 3.6 percent to close at 1,069.32 as investors sold insurance stocks ahead of Hurricane Rita making landfall in Texas this weekend.