The advance made by the local index last week proved unsustainable, as the Malta Stock Exchange index repositioned itself in negative territory by registering a significant loss of 1.1 per cent to end the week at 2,938.906 points. This performance enhanced the loss suffered during March which totalled 2.3 per cent, mainly conditioned by the considerable losses by highly capitalised equities as selling pressure increased.
Meanwhile, in the week the tone on the local market turned uneasy, as the index succumbed to the barrage of selling that sank the broader market in four out of five sessions. Banking equities headed the list of losers with Bank of Valletta plc shares being marked as the main laggard, while Go plc managed to snap a remarkable gain in the last trading minutes day. Activity in the week was characterised by 11 equities being active, in which gainers and non-movers tallied to three, while losers totalled to five. Meanwhile, turnover for the week reached €696,617 traded over a total of 627,447 shares which were executed across 102 transactions.
In the local Government Stocks investors’ enthusiasm seems to have dampened as from the 21 active stocks 14 declined in value, while seven posted minimal gains as long-dated issues reversed some of the recent losses. Turnover in the week decreased to just over €9.3 million traded across 273 transactions of more than 8.7 million in nominal terms.
In the Corporate Bonds market turnover reached €761,833 traded over 22 issues in which gainers and non-movers balanced at 10, while losers amounted to two. For the second week in a row the 4% AX Investments 2013 headed the list of gainers by recording an additional gain of 1.6 per cent.
In the equity market, Bank of Valletta plc tumbled by 4.5 per cent, thus wiping-out all the gains recorded in the previous week to e-touch the €2.12 price levels. The bank was active throughout the week as it traded lower in four sessions with Wednesday and Thursday being the main draggers as the equity edged lower by 2.2 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively. Total turnover in the week amounted to 62,291 shares which were traded over 40 trades. In March, the equity was marked as the main loser among financials with a loss of 3.6 per cent; while year-to-date it registered a loss of 4.6 per cent. On Monday, the bank will accept applications from the public for €40 million, 4.25% Notes maturing in 2019.
Despite, the rally experienced by FIMBank plc in March which resulted in a sharp gain of just below 14 per cent, the equity declined by 2.3 per cent on Monday to close the week at $0.85. Once again the equity had the lion’s share of trading as over 306,000 shares which were dealt across eight transactions. Similarly, Lombard Bank plc extended its negative stance to three sessions in a row by registering a further loss of two per cent. The equity was active in two sessions, having traded in positive territory in the mid-week session, while it than headed southwards yesterday to end the week at €2.45.
Conversely, HSBC Bank Malta plc managed to partially cancel last week’s loss by gaining 0.5 per cent. The equity was active in all sessions as it closed unchanged in three, posted a gain in one, while it recorded a minimal loss on Thursday to end the week at the €2.515 price levels.
From the hotelier’s sector, International Hotels Investments plc depreciated by 1.3 per cent on Wednesday to reach the €0.74 price level. This week’s loss was topped up to the recent negative sessions which black shadowed the equity both from a monthly performance viewpoint and also on a year-to-date basis. In fact, on the month the equity headed the list of losers as it closed markedly lower by just over five per cent, while from the initial days of January it plunged by 12 per cent.
Grand Harbour Marina plc was also present on the list of losers with the equity registering a loss of 2.7 per cent over a single session to close at €1.898.
On a positive note, Go plc shares climbed by 4.9 per cent to secure a 10 per cent gain over the past 15 days, thus ending the week at €0.839 over a total of 29,600 shares. However, the equity is still 15 per cent down year-to-date. Likewise, Maltapost plc shares clicked another notch higher by gaining 3.3 per cent over two sessions in which 6,433 shares changed hands to close the week at €0.94.
Meanwhile, both Malta International Airport plc and RS2 Software plc closed the week flat, with the former maintaining the €1.70 over 17,700 shares after trading at an intra-week high of €1.72, while the latter closed at €0.55 over three trades worth €27,000.
Finally, following weeks of inactivity the other non-mover for the week was Medserv plc which closed the week unchanged at €3.95 over four trades of 2,800 shares.
This article, which was compiled by Atlas JMFS Investment Services Limited, does not intend to give investment advice and the contents therein should not be construed as such.
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