Financial news

Trading for the first week of the session at the Malta Stock Exchange resulted in a positive outcome for the Index which gained 0.6 per cent to terminate the session slightly below the 3,000 mark. The session in the equity market was characterized with relatively low activity as investors struck a total of 16 deals spread across five active listings.

International Hotel Investments was the best performer for the day as the equity rose by 2c or 2.1 per cent to terminate the session at €0.97, its highest level this year. The hotel proprietary and management group was also the most liquid equity as investors struck an aggregate 13,000 shares over four deals for a total market consideration of €12,468.

Go was also a gainer during the session as the equity rose by a further 0c9 which equates to 0.5 per cent to close at €1.749. Trading activity for the quadruple play communications' company was spread over three deals and a market value of €4,923.

In banking sector, Bank of Valletta was the sole equity to register an increase its shares, by gaining one cent or 0.4 per cent to end the session at €2.399. The financial services company was also the most actively exchanged component during the day when investors transacted a total of 2,312 shares over seven deals.

FIMBank and Lombard Bank Malta were both non-movers for the day as their shares closed unchanged at $1.29 and €2.65 respectively. Activity for the listings was relatively muted with two investors swapping a total of 2,300 shares in the former and a mere 300 shares in the latter.

In the fixed interest sector of the market, activity was much higher than in the equity market and spread over eight government stocks and seven corporate bonds. The best performer in the corporate debt issues was the seven per cent Gap Developments 2011/13 which gained 400 ticks on the purchase of 13,807 nominal up to the €94.00 level.

The week ahead: Economic indicators for week starting May 25

Data for the coming week is expected to show a continuation of the improving trend seen over the past few weeks with housing confidence indicators anticipated to push the rally further.

In the United States, real estate market data will be issued today with the Case-Shiller House Price Index followed by the Sales data on existing homes and the new homes data, all of which are expected to show a marked improvement. Meanwhile, the first update of GDP for the first quarter on Friday is anticipated to show that the decline will be slightly less intense than in the original release. This could further be supported by a likely increase in the Chicago Producer's Manufacturing Index, which is also an important regional survey.

On the other side of the Atlantic, unemployment figures for the eurozone to be issued this Friday are expected to show that the number of people out of work will continue to increase to the level of 9.1 per cent for the month of April over the prior figure of 8.9 per cent. This negative predicament may be counterbalanced by economic confidence figures tomorrow, for which analysts' are expecting a marked improvement. Elsewhere, stabilisation in the manufacturing sector may also be reflected by the data on new orders in the euro area for the coming week under review.

In the United Kingdom, the scheduled data for the week is relatively limited with positive results expected in the nationwide housing market. The anticipation is that the month on month house prices will continue to fall at 0.9 per cent over the prior 0.4 per cent.

This article has been prepared by Bank of Valletta p.l.c. (the Bank), which is licensed to conduct investment services business by the MFSA, for your general information only. This information is not a solicitation or offer by the Bank to acquire or sell securities. Nor does it constitute any form of advice by the Bank. Appropriate advice should be obtained before making any such decision. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance and the value of your investments may fall or rise.