Financial news

Trading activity for the first day of the week at the Malta Stock Exchange ended with no gainers in the equity market as the Index inevitable dropped by 0.8 per cent to terminate at 3,162.5 points.

The session's worst performer was Malta International Airport as the equity dropped by 12c4 or 5.2 per cent to end at €2.25. Volume in the airport operator consisted of 5,347 shares swapped over 3 deals.

In the banking sector, HSBC Bank Malta was the day's laggard as its shares depreciated by 5c1 or 1.8 per cent to close at €2.75. The bank was trading at an intra-day high of €2.80 when selling pressure lowered the price to its current position. Investors in the financial services company transacted 3,625 shares across five deals.

Bank of Valletta was also on the list of losers during the day albeit registering only a marginal 1c drop in its share price which closed at €3.35, after last week it registered new highs for the current year supported by high levels of buying activity.

FIMBank was the only equity to end the session unscathed from the losses registered by all the other equities as its price remained unchanged at $1.20. Volume was nevertheless muted as only 800 shares were transacted.

A single deal for 6,000 shares was concluded in Plaza Centres, which terminated the session on a negative note, albeit declining by a mere half a cent to close at €1.63.

The week ahead - Economic indicators for week starting October 5

The key events in the week ahead will be focused on the Bank of England and the European Central Bank's rate decision, where no major announcements are expected.

In the UK, Bank of England policy-makers will meet on Thursday where they are expected to maintain interest rates at a record low of 0.5 per cent and leave its Asset Purchase Target unchanged at £175 billion. Meanwhile, industrial production and manufacturing production are expected to show further improvement, increasing to 0.2 per cent and 0.3 per cent for August respectively. This would be lower than that recorded during the previous month when manufacturing alone rose by 0.9 per cent month-on-month.

In the eurozone, the European Central Bank is expected to leave its interest rate unchanged at one per cent during Thursday's meeting which was also indicated by ECB's President Jean-Claude Trichet earlier last month. Meanwhile, retail sales are expected to deteriorate during August, dropping by a 0.5 per cent month-on-month and an annual 2.4 per cent. On Wednesday, the final print of euro-area Gross Domestic Product for the second quarter will likely confirm that the economy has contracted by 0.1 per cent.

In the US, consumer credit is expected to disappoint dropping to -$10 billion in August from its -$21.6 billion for the previous month, suggesting that consumer spending will remain subdued for the period ahead. Meanwhile, the trade balance is also predicted to register a further decline as it drops by a negative $33 billion from its prior $32 billion.

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.