The Royal Gazette/Bermuda Stock Exchange index reached new heights yesterday, after a second day of record-breaking Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son share prices.

The index rose 12.15 points yesterday after Bank of Butterfield gained yet another 25 cents to close at $41.75 ? the highest the bank has ever traded at.

On Tuesday the bank broke its own records and pushed the index above its all time high of 2855.082 set on April 29, 2002 when Bank of Bermuda shares pushed up the exchange to new heights.

On Tuesday it edged above this by 18 points to 2,873.42 after hovering near the previous all time high for weeks after interest in the bank has been high since HSBC announced it wanted to buy Bank of Bermuda on October 28 this year.

After the announcement on October 28, Bank of Butterfield shares gained $2.75 to close at $38.25 on an unusually high volume of 10,823 shares.

The impending Bank of Bermuda sale has had a knock-on effect of not only dramatically increasing the volume of shares traded but also continually pushing up the share price of Bank of Butterfield since then, as it reached new heights each week.

The Bank of Butterfield 52 week low was $27.27, but has been moving up as local money has been keen to buy up Bermuda shares and on the speculation that some have that Bank of Butterfield may also be bought out as a good investment for a foreign bank.

The last time the Royal Gazette/Bermuda Stock Exchange index reached record levels was during 2001, after Bank of Bermuda stock soared to an all-time high after the bank was granted an exemption from the 60/40 ownership rule, paving the way for a possible listing on the Nasdaq.

Then the index reached an all-time high of 2746.18 ? its all time low is 896.13. Bank of Bermuda stock hit $55.25 on May 30, 2001 and the index reached 2733.39, but this was pushed up even further when Bank of Butterfield got its exemption and also reached an all-time high of $35.

Bank of Bermuda stock had been languishing at about $26 before the announcement, and in December 2001 had a 52 week low of $38.00.

Bank of Butterfield had been trading at about $16 before its announcement, and in December, 2001 had a 52 week low of $24.00.

In August after Cup Match, Bank of Butterfield jumped $3.50 or 10.14 percent to close at a record high of $38 on volume of 8,801 shares in the wake of the release of strong results and this in turn pushed up the index by 42 points or 1.66 percent to close at 2,538.90.