Trading on the Malta Stock Exchange was marked by lack of activity yesterday as only three equities traded on the day. Volume was very light, at 13,879 shares, as the index lost three points to close at the 3474.231 level. The index has been on a negative trend for the past five days, losing an aggregate 73 points.

HSBC Bank Malta plc shares were the biggest loser on the day, dropping 1c, or more than 0.3 per cent, closing at €2.97, in three trades of 3,200 shares. The equity breached the €3.00 level in Tuesday's session and has traded below that level since then.

Shares in Bank of Valletta plc moved upwards again yesterday, albeit marginally, closing up 0c2, or less than 0.1 per cent, on 16 trades of 10,279 shares, to finish at €3.282. The equity has generally bucked the negative trend seen in the banking sector over the past few days.

Medserv plc, meanwhile, was the only other equity to trade yesterday, closing unchanged at €4.30 in a single trade of 400 shares.

Trading in the fixed income market was just as sparse as the equity market yesterday as €304,927 nominal were exchanged across 18 deals as five corporate bond issues and four government stocks were traded during the session. The 4.60 per cent HSBC Bank Malta 2017 series made the biggest move on the day, losing €1.00, or 1.0 per cent, to close at €101.00 in two trades of €11,500 nominal.

Weekly eurozone economic review

The debt crisis is a growing burden on sentiment in the eurozone periphery. In fact, the economic sentiment indicator for the euro area posted a surprising drop in May. In the meantime, consumer price inflation increased at an annual rate of 1.6 per cent in May, up from 1.5 per cent in April.

However, there is still no cause for concern, as the cloudier outlook for growth in the periphery should eventually works also to constrain inflation pressure. In the meantime, Germany's annual inflation increased by 0.2 per cent to 1.2 per cent in May. On the month, prices rose by 0.1 per cent, after a fall of 0.1 per cent during the previous month.

Unemployment in the eurozone inched up in April boosted by a rising number of people without work in Spain, Portugal and Italy, however, the number of jobless in Germany fell, while unemployment remained stable in the eurozone's second-biggest economy - France. As a result, the unemployment rate increased to 10.1 per cent in April, the highest rate since June 1998, up from 10 per cent registered the previous month.

In the manufacturing sector, the Purchasing Mangers Index (PMI) for May was revised down to a reading of 55.8 from the previous flash estimate of 55.9, and from 57.6 registered in April. As a result, manufacturing output grew at a slower rate than April's 46-month high as cost pressures caused firms to reduce the rate of growth in production.

Finally, producer price inflation rose to 0.9 per cent in April from 0.6 per cent the previous month. This was the fastest pace in more than a year and was mainly driven by a weaker euro and higher energy costs.

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.