The equity of International Hotel Investments plc dropped by 6.4 per cent during this morning’s session back to the 78c5 level on a single deal of just 718 shares.

Similarly, the share price of GO plc trended one per cent lower back to the €1.95 level also on low volumes of 1,300 shares.

These drops largely led to the 0.9 per cent slump in the MSE Share Index back to 3,460.161 points.

The only other negative performer today was MaltaPost plc with a 2.6 per cent retreat from its all-time high of €1.15 to the €1.12 level on volumes 52,486 shares.

On the other hand, in the financial sector, HSBC Bank Malta plc edged minimally higher to €2.38 on volumes of over 11,000 shares. The share price of Middlesea Insurance plc climbed by five per cent to regain the 95c level on a single deal of 2,100 shares.

Similarly, the equity of Medserv plc edged 2.3 per cent higher to a new 2014 high of €1.33 on a small trade of 760 shares.

Meanwhile, Bank of Valletta plc maintained the €2.26 level across 17,374 shares. Likewise, Malta International Airport plc closed the day unchanged as a further 1,855 shares changed hands at the €2.30 level – the equity’s all-time high.

This afternoon the airport operator published the traffic results for the month of March revealing a further 5.7 per cent increase in passenger movements.

During Q1 2014, MIA registered an aggregate 8.4 per cent increase in passenger movements to 655,942 passengers – the best Q1 ever. This was largely due to the 7.6 per cent increase in seat capacity during the same period.

RS2 Software plc also maintained its all-time high of €2.43 on volumes of 12,000 shares and a further 13,950 shares of MIDI plc were exchanged at the 26c level, unchanged from the previous close.

On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index edged minimally higher to 1,026.296 points as yields marginally eased back to 1.615 per cent following the recent uplift.

www.rizzofarrugia.com