HSBC's share price continues to decline

The share price of HSBC Bank Malta plc continued to decline this morning on the stock exchange. Following last week's 6.3% drop, HSBC's equity lost a further 3.7% to €2.60 as it continues to trade ex-dividend.

The downturn in HSBC forced the MSE Share Index to close at its lowest level since 29 May. The Index eased by 1.15% to just above 3,000 points. Apart from HSBC's decline, the share price of GO plc dropped back to the €1.00 level.

On the other hand, Simonds Farsons Cisk plc surpassed the €2.00 level for the first time since 2 July. Farsons' equity edged 1.5% higher to €2.03. The company will be publishing its July interim results by end of September.

The only other equity was Bank of Valletta plc which failed to recover from last Friday's drop and maintained the €2.08 level. 11,660 shares were exchanged during this morning's trading session.

Until the end of August, ten equity issuers are due to publish their interim figures. No announcement is expected this week and the next one should take place on Thursday 23 August by Lombard Bank Malta plc. Last week, MIDI plc announced that its Board of Directors is scheduled to meet on Monday 27 August to approve its interim results followed while Grand Harbour Marina also announced that its interim results will be released on 29 August. Some time ago, FIMBank plc had reported that their half-yearly financial statements will be issued on Tuesday 28 August.

On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index edged marginally higher to yet another 11-month high of 997.343 points although eurozone yields increased to 1.44% this afternoon. The flight to safety across international bond markets continued this morning as Germany sold €3.77 billion of a new 6-month Treasury Bill at a negative yield. On the other hand, Italy raised €8 billion in a 1-year Treasury Bill at a yield of 2.767% compared to the level of 2.7% last month. Despite the higher rate, it is worth noting that this remains substantially below the level of almost 4% in June.

Some of the longer-dated Malta Government Stocks eased slightly lower from last Friday's level as the 5.10% MGS 2029 dropped by only 2 basis points to 103.48% while the bid price of the 5.2% MGS 2031 dropped 6 basis points to 102.84% but the market price remained unchanged at 102.90%.

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