Last week the Malta Stock Exchange index rebounded strongly after the previous week’s loss. Every session last week ended positive, with the highest daily gain in the index being 1.65% registered on Wednesday. By Friday’s close the MSE had climbed a total of 4.75% to surpass the 3,800 points level.

This gain has bolstered the index’s performance so far this year by 2.3 per cent after just two weeks of trading.

This rise was achieved after half the equities traded registered healthy gains, with the top three capitalised equities increasing substantially in value.

Trading volume during the week increased significantly in the last two trading sessions, accounting for over 70 per cent of the 975,548 shares traded last week, almost double the previous week’s volume.

The bulk of all trading was again concentrated in the major banking equities as well as in International Hotel Investments plc shares.

Last week’s best performer was HSBC Bank Malta plc, which shot up 9.37% following the previous week’s fall of 1.7%. The equity’s share price traded at a low of €3.21 on Monday and reached an intra-week high of €3.53.

HSBC shares experienced three consecutive positive sessions from Monday to Wednesday, with the highest gain being registered on Wednesday with a 4.5% rise.

Despite this, the highest traded volume was registered on Friday and the share price closed at €3.50. In total, over 208,700 HSBC shares changed hands across 85 deals.

A total of 320,708 International Hotel Investments plc shares were traded last week over 24 deals, almost a sixfold increase in volume. The share price also soared by about 8.9% to close at €0.98, a level not reached since June 2009.

Trading was heaviest in Thursday’s session, when 247,000 shares changed hands, pushing the share price up 3.4%. The equity was also active on Monday and Friday, when the share price rallied by 2.22% and 3.05% respectively.

Middlesea Insurance plc shares also advanced last week, gaining 5% to close at €1.05. The share price rose by 1.5% and 3.45% on Thursday and Friday respectively after trading flat on Monday and Tuesday. A total of 15,251 shares changed hands in six deals.

In contrast, Bank of Valletta plc (BoV) recovered some of the previous week’s decline, to close at €3.15. On Monday, BoV’s share price adjusted to reflect the bonus issue of one share for every five shares held.

On Monday the shares started trading at its weekly low of €3.083, and rose to a high of €3.20. Mid-week the equity price rose by 1.72%, followed by two consecutive falls, reducing its weekly gain to 2.17%.

Trading volume increased this week as 124,289 shares changed hands across 118 deals.

A total of 18,200 Malta International Airport plc shares changed hands over 10 deals, with the share price registering low gains.

Maltapost plc’s share price rose by just over 1%, after 22,232 shares were exchanged over 12 trades.

The share price of Island Hotels Group Holdings plc closed at €0.998, or 0.81% higher than the previous week.

The share prices of Simonds Farsons Cisk plc (SFC), Plaza Centres plc, and Go plc all remained unchanged last week. A mere 323 SFC shares were traded in a single deal at €1.68.

A total of 7,000 Plaza Centres plc were traded in one transaction at €1.69, while 21,700 Go plc shares were traded over 10 deals.

The largest equity losing value last week was Fimbank plc, whose shares tumbled by nearly 3.15% last week.

Notwithstanding this drop, Fimbank was the second most traded equity last week, as 224,246 shares were traded in 12 deals.

On Wednesday, the share price fell 3.16%, which was partially recouped in Thursday’s session with a rise of 2.17%. However, this rise was nullified by an equal decline on Friday.

Negative sentiment also continued to affect Loqus Holdings plc shares, which shed a further 6.25%. However, this drop was only backed up by a single deal of 1,212 shares.

Similarly, Lombard Bank plc ended Friday’s session with a loss, as its share price fell by €0.03 on the week after having traded unchanged on Monday and Tuesday. In all, 5,270 shares were traded in seven transactions.

On a similar note, RS2 Software plc’s share price drifted 4.2% lower to €0.46 on Monday, albeit on minimal trading.

In the corporate bond market, the value of turnover declined slightly to €586,000, with most corporate bonds prices falling.

By contrast the prices of most Malta Government Stocks (MGS) rose. The value of trading in this market also increased to €1.45 million, with the 5.25% MGS 2030 (I) remaining the most traded stock.

A total of €245,942 worth of trading was registered on a single deal in the Treasury Bill market.

Last week the Treasury an­nounced that it plans to launch five MGS issues this year at intervals of approximately two months between February and November.

The MGS issuance target for the 2011 financial year has been set at not more than €570m.

Two different types of securities will be issued, primarily the conventional fixed-rate MGS, and the floating rate MGS (FR Bond) linked to the six-month Euribor.

This article, which was compiled by Jesmond Mizzi, joint managing director of Atlas JMFS Investment Services Ltd, does not intend to give investment advice and the contents therein should not be construed as such. Atlas JMFS is licensed to conduct investment services by the MFSA and is a member firm of the Malta Stock Exchange. The directors or related parties, including the company, and their clients are likely to have an interest in securities mentioned in this article. For further information contact Atlas JMFS at 67/3, South Street, Valletta, or on Tel: 2122 4410 or e-mail jesmond.mizzi@atlasjmfs.com.

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