MSE Index at highest level since April 2008

MSE Trading Report for week ending January 06, 2017

The MSE Index sustained the positive trend set in the month of December by ticking 0.29 per cent higher, to close the week at 4,644.338 points.

Elsewhere, the corporate bond issues experienced mixed fortunes while the sovereign debt market witnessed declines across the board.

Trading in the equity market was spread across 17 equities of which eight closed higher, four closed in the red and five closed unchanged. Total turnover amounted to almost €860,000.

In the banking industry,HSBC Bank Malta plc shares rebounded strongly following last week’s marginal decline, as 17 deals worth €77,800 resulted in a 2.6 per cent increment in price, to close at €1.95 – a fresh high since March 2014.After close of trading last Friday the bank announced that the Board of Directors is scheduled to meet on Friday 21, 2017 to approve the bank’s final audited accounts for the year ended December 31, 2016 and to consider the declaration of a final dividend for approval at the Annual General Meeting to be held on April 13, 2017. 

Bank of Valletta plc sharesalso increased, albeit at a slower pace, as the €2.26 closing price implied a 0.4 per cent weekly increase. A total of 57 deals in this equity amounting to €310k accounted for 36 per cent of total trading for the week.

FIMBank plc shares traded twice over a total of 10,406 shares however the price remained unchanged at $0.9.

The insurance company, Mapfre Middlesea plc performed positively, as itsshares followed on last week’s gains across four transactions worth €35,500 in total. This led to a minimal increase in price of 0.04 per cent to settle at €2.25, having dropped to €2.20 intra-week.

The negative performance of International Hotel Investments plc shares acted as a significant drag to the index, as 38,222 shares changed hands over two transactions at €0.62, resulted in a 3.9 per cent slump in price. On the contrary, two transactions worth €10,600 in Grand Harbour Marina plc shares, yielded a 3.5 per cent increase in price as this equity closed at €0.899.

A total of 4,142 shares changed ownershipin GO plc, leading the equity to recoup last week’s losses as it closed in the black by 0.3 per cent at €3.28.

Trading in Plaza Centres plc and Medserv plc had contrasting effects on the respective share prices. One transaction worth €38,000 in Plaza Centres plc shares caused the price to fall by 0.9 per cent, closing at €1.08. On the other hand, five deals worth €50,000 in Medserv plc saw its share price appreciate by 0.7 per cent to reach €1.61.

Once againRS2 Software plc shares traded in the black as 41,600 shares traded over 14 deals led to a one per cent increase in price. The equity closed at €1.838 per share, which is €0.001 lower than the new four month high reached on Tuesday.

MaltaPost plcshares reached a fresh all time high of €2.08 this week, as three deals amounting to €78,000 resulted in a 2.5 per cent spike in price.

Three trades tallying to 31,377 shares in Malta Properties Company plc resulted in a 1.7 per cent decrease in price, to end the week at €0.58, thus erasing all gains register in the last trading week of 2016.

MIDI plcshares curbed some of last week’s gains as six deals implied a 0.3 per cent decline in price. Total turnover in this equity amounted to €56,500 as the price at the end of the week stood at €0.35.

Despite trading 13 times for a total of 13,680 shares, the share price of Malta International Airport plc’s closed unchanged at €4.05. Similarly, thin volume traded in Simonds Farsons Cisk plc, Malita Investments plc and Loqus Holdings plc, also left no impact their prices as the equities closed at €7.00, €0.857 and €0.165 respectively.

In the corporate bond market,totalturnover of €1.42 million, saw 25 issues being traded. This resulted in eight issues increasing, nine declining and the remaining eight closing unchanged.The largest fall was registered in the 6.2% Tumas Investments plc € 2017 – 2020 as the closing price stood at €102.50 – a weekly decline of 3.3 per cent. 

Onthe sovereign debtfront performance turned sour once again as all 22 active issues closed in the red. Turnover surpassed the €4.3 million mark.

The biggest slump was recorded in the 3% Malta Government Stock 2040 as this lost almost half of last week’s gains to close at €113.28.