The Royal Gazette/Bermuda Stock Exchange Index ended the last week of 2004 on a positive note, ending up 2.24 points on Friday to close at 3,208.05.

For the year, the Exchange Index gained 242.71 points or eight percent from 2965.34 where it ended 2003.

Last week, BF&M was the only stock to gain ground, rising $1.35 to close at $15.35 on volume of 100 shares.

The rise made the stock look good for the year, as it gained $3.35 from its closing price in 2003, a rise of 28 percent on the year. However the stock reached $16 earlier in the year - a rise of 33.3 percent for the year.

Butterfield Bank, the largest issue on the Exchange after Bank of Bermuda was taken over by HSBC Plc, slipped from the high share price it recorded at the end of 2003.

It closed unchanged at $40.50 on volume of 11,464. That was a fall of $3.50 or 7.9 percent from the record high of $44 it reached on December 30 last year.

KeyTech Holdings closed unchanged last week at

$10.75 on volume of 2,978. For the year, it ended down $1.25 or 10.4 percent.

And Devonshire Industries closed the week unchanged at $11.50 on volume of 500 shares. For the year, it gained 50 cents or 4.5 percent.

For the holiday week, the BSX Index saw volume of 11,000 shares worth $445,500.