Financial news

The Malta Stock Exchange index gained almost 15 points, or 0.4 per cent yesterday, to close at 3565.841 as banking stocks finished mixed while the shares of Plaza Centres plc soared on light volume.

Plaza Centres plc gained 11c4, or 7.5 per cent, on the day in a single trade of 1,837 shares, to close at €1.63.

In the banking sector, HSBC Bank Malta plc added 4c, or 1.3 per cent, in light trading of 8,000 shares across six deals to close at €3.06.

Shares in the other large local retail bank, Bank of Valletta plc, were also up on the day, albeit marginally, gaining 0c5, or 0.2 per cent, to close at €3.345 in twelve trades of 12,435 shares.

Lombard Bank Malta plc, meanwhile, lost ground in the session by losing 4c, or 1.4 per cent, to close at €2.79 in three deals of 20,000 shares.

Several other stocks traded yesterday, but closed unchanged. Go plc witnessed 11,920 shares exchange hands across eight deals, to close at €1.86, while Malta International Airport plc traded in robust volume of 35,000 shares across seven deals to close at €1.62. Maltapost plc, Medserv plc, and Middlesea Insurance plc all closed unchanged as well, ending the day at €0.90, €4.235 and €1.10 respectively, each experiencing a single trade of their shares.

Weekly eurozone economic review

In the eurozone, the Purchasing Managers’ Index for the manufacturing sector was revised upward to a reading of 56.7 from the previous flash estimate of 56.5 and 55.6 in June. This growth was largely driven by strong performance in German factories. Meanwhile, the PMI relating to the services sector was revised downwards to a reading of 55.8 from a preliminary estimate of 56, but up from June’s 55.5. This was mainly due to a downward revision for Germany’s services sector. In the meantime, Italy’s service sector shrank after regis­tering seven months of growth while in Spain the pace of growth fell.

In the meantime, after rebounding in May, retail sales remained flat in June, mainly driven by declines in household spending by 0.9 per cent in Germany and 1.3 per cent in France. On a year-on-year basis, retail sales in the 16-nation currency area increased by 0.4 per cent. This was more than the 0.1 per cent increase expected, while May’s figure was revised from a previous reading of 0.3 per cent to 0.6 per cent.

Elsewhere, inflation rose to the fastest pace in more than one-and-the-half years, by 1.7 per cent from a year earlier in July after increasing 1.4 per cent in June. However, the unemployment rate remained at the highest since August 1998, at 10 per cent for the fourth month in June. This data shows that economic growth across the region is driven by exports and rising unemployment is prompting consumers to cut back spending.

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.