A market in search of direction
An early week slump made way for a mid-week rally, as buyers flocked to the market. As usual, the big banks commanded the lion's share of the equity market's attention with more than 76 per cent of the week's Lm1.76 million in equity turnover shared by...
An early week slump made way for a mid-week rally, as buyers flocked to the market. As usual, the big banks commanded the lion's share of the equity market's attention with more than 76 per cent of the week's Lm1.76 million in equity turnover shared by Bank of Valletta plc (BoV) and HSBC Bank Malta plc (HSBC). BoV, the week's best performer, up by five per cent, was also the most active equity as Lm918,000 worth of shares changed hands. HSBC figures came in at almost 50 per cent lower, with turnover of Lm434,000 and a 2.44 per cent increase in share price. The rest of the market however was still plagued by negative sentiment: Maltacom plc (MLC) ended the week 1.6 per cent lower at Lm1.82, Malta International Airports plc (MIA) yielded 1.85 per cent while in small cap stocks, Simonds Farsons Cisk plc (SFC) led with a 5.4 per cent slump followed by Lombard Bank plc's (LOM)'s 4.2 per cent decline. Plaza Centres plc (PZC) was the only other equity to end in positive territory - although the gain was a negligible 0.8 per cent.
The MSE index recouped 1.75 per cent to end the week at 5,164.775.
BoV opened the week in the same negative mood as it had closed the previous one, stumbling from a Lm3.55 open to a Lm3.50 close for its fifth consecutive day of losses. This price also marked a new closing low for 2006. Tuesday saw the brakes applied to the five-day losing streak; they not only stemmed the losses but helped start a mild rebound: After dipping to a mid-session low of Lm3.49,8, it found a strong floor at Lm3.50, rising to Lm3.55 by the close. The mid-week session saw BoV open stronger at Lm3.57,1 and Lm3.57,2. After a 30-minute silence, the price leapfrogged to Lm3.76. It traded at this level for some time but then slipped back gradually, stopping at Lm3.65, to then recover to Lm3.68 for the final deal. This 13c gain for the day equated to 3.7 per cent. Thursday saw the price move in only one direction - up, a further 4.6 per cent. From a Lm3.70 open, the equity climbed to Lm3.84,9, closing at Lm3.84,8. The momentum was not however kept up yesterday: BoV moved down from Lm3.84 to Lm3.80 within minutes of the open, skidded to Lm3.70 by the middle of the session, recovering to Lm3.72 and closing at Lm3.75 in the dying seconds of trade. Nonetheless, BoV ended the week firmly in the black, a neat five per cent ahead. At the close of trade best bids totalled 250 shares at Lm3.69,5, while supply for 1,992 shares started at Lm3.75.
HSBC was in the throes of a sharp sell off on Monday, falling from Lm2.04 to Lm2.01, continuing into Tuesday as the price flirted with the Lm2 mark for a considerable part of trading, then closed at Lm2.01. On Wednesday a bevy of buyers roused a rally which took the price from a Lm2.01 open to a Lm2.10,2 close. The rally resumed with gusto on Thursday, when the first deal - struck more than half an hour into trading - was executed at Lm2.12,1. Buyers continued to out-bid each other for the scant supply of shares available, taking the price up to the top of the allowable trade range of Lm2.20,8 by the end of the session. Yesterday saw Thursday's rally unravel as the Lm2.21 open gave way to selling pressure, sliding all the way back to Lm2.10. This translated into a drop of 4.9 per cent on the day but still left HSBC shareholders 2.4 per cent richer on the week. At the end of trading the best bid was 800 shares at Lm2.08,1, while the best offer for 5,000 shares stood at Lm2.12.
MLC was stable on Monday trading at Lm1.85 and closing a mil short at Lm1.84,9; it nose-dived to Lm1.80 on Tuesday, recovering to Lm1.84 for the final deal and was back to Lm1.80 after Wednesday's quiet session where a mere 3,044 shares changed hands. Thursday's slightly busier session saw MLC trade around the Lm1.80 level, with the final deal taking the price back up to Lm1.84. The first two of yesterday's three trades (yes, all three of them!) were struck at this latter price, with the final one matched at Lm1.82 for a week-on-week drop of 1.6 per cent. At the end of the session, the price was supported by an outstanding bid for 530 shares at Lm1.82, with the best offer of 100 shares at Lm1.84.
MIA, at the centre of the low-fares airlines controversy, was stable for most of the week: after a Lm1.34,9 open on Tuesday, it quickly recovered to Lm1.35 and traded at this level till yesterday's penultimate deal. Trading in MIA was then grounded for 100 minutes till a matched deal for 2,500 shares - three minutes before closing time - was executed at a 2006 closing low of Lm1.32,5 resulting in a 1.8 per cent drop for the week. At the close of trading, 6,000 was the number of shares on both the best bid and best offer sides. The bid-offer spread was Lm1.31 to Lm1.35.
Small cap stocks were the weaker performers and suffered the heaviest losses:
SFC lost more fizz as it shed 5.4 per cent, to a 2006 low of 70c. With what is a very considerable volume, by SFC standards, of 191,000 shares, it ranked third in turnover by value this week. While the deals struck in the earlier part of the week were executed at 74c, SFC ended Wednesday's session at 70c. Yesterday's considerable volume of 164,273 shares was also transacted at this price.