The share prices of Bank of Valletta plc and HSBC Bank Malta plc trended higher this morning helping the MSE share index advance by 0.5 per cent to a fresh four-week high of 3,335.171 points.
Sustained demand for Bank of Valletta plc shares was again evident with the equity rising for the fourth consecutive session with a further 1.8 per cent increase to a new 19-week high of €2.25,1 across 12 deals totalling 48,420 shares.
Similarly, the equity of HSBC Bank Malta plc moved minimally higher to regain the €2 level on volumes of 14,000 shares.
Meanwhile, all the other six active equities ended this morning’s session unchanged.
Go plc recovered from an intra-day low of €2.44 to end the session unchanged at the €2.48,9 level on low volumes of 3,869 shares.
Go this morning confirmed that it received regulatory approval from the Competition Authority in Cyprus to proceed with the implementation of the share purchase agreement with Cablenet Communications Systems Limited (Cablenet).
This transaction was first revealed in a company announcement by Go on March 28. The agreement comprises the acquisition of a 25 per cent stake in the Cypriot telecommunications company as well as for Go to advance a €12 million convertible loan to Cablenet.
Upon conversion of the loan, Go will own 45 per cent of the issued share capital of Cablenet. The agreement also stipulates that in the future Go has the option to acquire majority control in Cablenet.
In the IT sector, RS2 Software plc and 6pm Holdings plc traded unchanged at €2.79 and 72p respectively on shallow activity.
Likewise, FIMBank plc held on to the 65c5US level on a small trade of 586 shares. Also in the financial sector, GlobalCapital plc maintained the 80c level on a single trade of 1,000 shares.
The only other active equity, Tigné Mall plc, ended the session unchanged at the 51c5 level across two deals totalling 14,000 shares.
On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index inched minimally higher to 1,077.389 points although this morning the 10-year German Bund yield remained close to the recent highs of 0.96 per cent.
However, by this afternoon the benchmark Eurozone yields slumped back to 0.915 per cent after the European Central Bank (ECB) announced a 10 basis point cut in its reference rate to a historical low of 0.05 per cent in a bid to counter the region’s low inflation.
Furthermore, ECB President Mario Draghi, during his customary press conference this afternoon, announced that a sizeable asset purchase programme for private assets will be initiated in October.
Mr Draghi also noted that the ECB still has other unconventional tools at its disposal to counter the region’s weak economic recovery.
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