Bermuda stocks hit their lowest level since December 2003 after a sharp fall on The Royal Gazette / Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) index last week.

Driven by falls in the value of banks and utilities, the BSX Index fell 122.64 points, or 4.29 percent, to end the week on 2,857.13.

Bermuda Commercial Bank Ltd. plunged 22.2 percent, as it hit a 52-week low of $7, as 8,000 shares traded.

Butterfield Bank also continued the decline which has seen it lose 23 percent of its value in the first seven weeks of this year.

Last week Butterfield fell 50 cents, or 5.9 percent, to end the week on $8, as 27,657 shares changed hands.

Insurer Argus Group Holdings Ltd., managed to halt its decline this week, ending the week where it started, on $8. The 41,076 share volume made Argus the most actively traded stock.

Belco Holdings Ltd. fell 45 cents, or 2.7 percent, to close on $16.05, as 3,127 shares changed hands.

Communications group KeyTech Ltd. also fell in light trading, shedding 25 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $10 on the trading of 312 shares.

Volume for the week was 80,734 shares and turnover was $667,455.