After a strong start to 2014 in terms of volume, with almost €2.2 million worth of shares changing hands until last Friday, trading activity softened during this morning’s session of the Malta Stock Exchange to €0.21 million – the lowest daily volume since the start of the New Year.

Nonetheless, the MSE Share Index edged 0.1% higher to 3,682.016 points mainly due to the 0.4% increase in the share price of Bank of Valletta plc to the €2.66 level.

A total of 35,555 BOV shares changed hands today across 20 deals. The Bank’s equity will continue to trade with the entitlement to the 1 for 10 bonus issue until tomorrow. It will turn ex-bonus as from Wednesday’s session.

Middlesea Insurance plc also performed positively with a 1% increase to regain the €0.92 level across five trades totalling 5,355 shares. Similarly, the share price of Malita Investments plc gained 0.9% to close at the €0.535 level on volumes of 14,000 shares.

On the other hand, the equity of Malta International Airport plc slipped 0.9% from its all-time high of €2.20 to close at the €2.18 level on just below 8,000 shares.

Meanwhile, 11,200 HSBC Bank Malta plc shares traded unchanged at the €2.60 level and FIMBank plc held on to the US$0.98 level on a single trade of 1,295 shares.

Likewise, no change was registered in the share price of MIDI plc as 65,000 shares traded at the €0.30 level. Similarly, MaltaPost plc held on to its all-time high of €1.15 as a further 32,615 shares traded at this level. The postal operator is scheduled to hold its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 15 January.

On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index climbed 0.1% to a new 4-month high of 1,023.062 points as Eurozone yields slipped back to the 1.83% level following last Friday’s disappointing US jobs report.

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