Yesterday's session at the Malta Stock Exchange extended Wednesday's gains as the Index moved further into positive territory after registering a 0.4 per cent gain to terminate very close to the 3,400 level.
In fact, International Hotel Investment's share price rose by 2c which equates to an increase of 2.5 per cent to terminate at €0.82. Turnover in the hotel property and management company consisted of 1,750 shares swapped across two deals.
Another positive performer during the day was MaltaPost, even though its share price rose by a negligible 0c1 or 0.15 per cent to terminate at €0.651. Investors in the postal operator transacted a total of 2,000 shares across two deals for a market consideration of €1,301. In the banking sector, the session had no losers or gainers as the two largest local banks, Bank of Valletta and HSBC Bank Malta registered no movement in their share price as they closed unchanged at €3.70 and €3.25 respectively.
Middlesea Insurance managed to retain much of the gains it registered during the mid-week session, when yesterday it registered only a marginal drop in its share price of 0c5 or 0.8 per cent to terminate at €0.63.
Simonds Farsons Cisk headed the list of losers during the day as the equity depreciated by 2c or 1.2 per cent to close at €1.63.
Go was a non-mover as its share price closed unchanged at €1.99. During the day, the equity was trading at an intra-day low of €1.987 when buying activity moved the price back up to its current position.
Weekly UK economic review
In the United Kingdom, the Bank of England's monetary policy meeting brought no surprises as the Bank left its Asset Purchase Program intact at £200 billion and held interest rates at 0.5 per cent, as widely expected. Meanwhile, in his pre-budget speech, British Finance Minister Alistair Darling has imposed a one-off 50 per cent levy on bank bonuses and raised other taxes to the wealthy.
In fact, over half of the additional revenue raised by measures announced over the past year will be paid by the top two per cent of earners. Britain has also been put on warning by markets and rating agencies that it must rein in its soaring debt. This meant that Darling revised up his borrowing forecasts for this fiscal year to a record £177.6 billion or 12 per cent of Gross Domestic Product. Britain's goods trade deficit with the rest of the world widened unexpectedly in October to its biggest since January as imports rose more than exports, despite the weakness of the pound. In fact, according to the Office for National Statistics, the trade gap widened to £7.1 billion in October as exports rose by 3.8 per cent while imports rose by a much larger 4.3 per cent during the same month. Meanwhile, UK industrial output failed to register growth in October, disappointing expectations in a Bloomberg survey for an increase of 0.5 per cent. Moreover, September's rise was revised down, meaning that for the third quarter industrial output contracted by 0.9 per cent rather than 0.8 per cent in recent estimates. In the property sector, house prices rose 1.4 per cent in November, which is the fastest increase in six months, according to Mortgage lender Halifax.
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.