After sliding to its lowest level since September 24, 2009, the MSE Share Index remained below the 3,000-point level after registering a minimal gain during this morning's session.

Today, Bank of Valletta plc was the only positive performer with the four other active equities closing the day unchanged.

The Malta Stock Exchange will be closed tomorrow, a public holiday.

In the past four sessions, the MSE Share Index dropped two per cent and is currently showing a loss of 3.25% since the start of 2012.

Bank of Valletta plc eased minimally higher today to end the week with a gain of 0.2% to €2.21,5. Meanwhile, after another inactive session today, HSBC Bank Malta plc ended the week 0.8% lower at €2.55.

Lombard Bank Malta plc maintained yesterday's 14-month low of €2.53 as a further 4,000 shares changed hands at this level.

Likewise, Middlesea Insurance plc traded again at its 21-month low of 70c with another 5,000 shares exchanged today.

Middlesea will be issuing its 2011 full-year results on February 28. A further 10,500 shares remain on offer at 70c with highest bids in the market at 65c.

The only other active equity today was GO plc which also held on to its previous close of 86c. During the past four trading sessions, GO's equity shed 3.4% and touched a fresh all-time low of 84c on Tuesday.

The worst performer of the week was Crimsonwing plc with an 18.2% decline to a new all-time low of 18c. Other notable decliners this week were International Hotel Investments plc (-8.5% to 75c) and RS2 Software plc (-8.3% to 55c).

On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index eased marginally lower today to 986.341 points as Eurozone yields continued to hover around the level of two per cent.

Earlier this afternoon, the European Central Bank announced that interest rates remained unchanged at one per cent but the ECB's President Mario Draghi hinted at relaxed rules for banks taking part in a long-term refinancing operation at the end of the month, boosting hopes that additional liquidity will be injected in the European financial system.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee also voted to keep interest rates at their current record lows but authorised further purchases of UK gilts totalling £50 billion.

www.rizzofarrugia.com

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.