During this morning’s trading session of the stock exchange, market activity was focused around Bank of Valletta plc shares with few other instruments trading on lack of participation following the general elections.
Over 111,000 BOV shares changed hands today with the majority of the shares transacted below last Friday’s closing price. The Bank’s share price initially slid 1.4% to a new one-month low of €2.252 on heavy volumes with all outstanding bids in the market satisfied at this level. During the final stages of this morning’s trading session, a trade of 1,770 shares was executed at the €2.298 level representing a 0.6% increase over last Friday’s close.
There was minimal activity registered elsewhere across the local equity market. HSBC Bank Malta plc shed 0.7% to the €2.73 on a single trade of 360 shares although the equity continues to trade with the entitlement to the final dividend. Also in the financial sector, FIMBank plc held on to the US$1.00 level across three deals totalling 1,646 shares with further bids remaining unsatisfied at this level.
Investors now await another string of results with Grand Harbour Marina plc, Plaza Centres plc and Lombard Bank Malta plc scheduled to publish their respective 2012 financial statements later on this week. Malta International Airport plc and Medserv plc will follow next week. Meanwhile, a further six other companies with a December year end have yet to disclose when they intend publishing their 2012 figures which have to be published by the end of April as per the requirements of the Listing Rules.
On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index inched marginally higher to 1,010.249 points as the benchmark 10-year German Bund yield drifted back to the 1.5% (compared to last Friday’s close of 1.52%) following Italy’s credit rating downgrade by Fitch.
The international rating agency downgraded Italy to BBB+ (in line with the country’s rating of other international rating agencies) with a negative outlook citing the political impasse, deepening recession and mounting debt burden. Demand for safe-haven assets was further boosted by the slower-than-expected growth of China’s industrial production as well as higher than expected increase in the country’s inflation.
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