Trading activity during this morning’s session at the Borza was encouraging with a value of €225,680 across 8 active equities. The MSE Share Index retreated by 0.1% to 3,306.447 points, as losses in BOV, HSBC and 2 other equities offset the positive performers.

Bank of Valletta plc shed 0.5% to €2.11 on weaker volumes totalling 24,000 shares. Similarly, the equity of HSBC Bank Malta plc closed in negative territory and dropped by 1% to €1.94 on activity of 13,331 shares.

The other negative performers were International Hotel Investments plc and Simonds Farsons Cisk plc on very minimal volumes. IHI closed at €0.699 and the share price of Farsons eased to the €2.86 level.

On the other hand, GO plc advanced by 0.8% to regain its multi-year high of €2.40 on increased volumes totalling 19,605 shares. The most actively traded equity was Malita Investments plc where a total of 128,000 shares changed hands. The share price of Malita edged 0.7% higher to €0.545 after recovering from an intra-day low of €0.54.

Middlesea Insurance plc was the top performer of the day with an increase of 5.6% to the €0.95 level on volumes of 7,529 shares.

Meanwhile, Medserv plc closed unchanged at €1.275 as a further 17,500 shares changed hands today. The company is expected to publish its interim financial statements on 28 August.

The Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index retreated marginally to 1,068.314 points reflecting the upward movement in Eurozone yields towards the 1% mark. The news that Russia is contemplating to damp down the ban on food imports that it had issued on 7 August was met positively by the markets.

The new 4.1% MGS 2034 (I) was listed today and trading is expected to commence as from tomorrow. Furthermore, the Treasury today affected refunds to those applicants who did not receive full allotment.

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