The share index declined by 0.6 per cent to 3,275.529 points as the four largest companies all closed in negative territory.

Bank of Valletta closed 0.5 per cent lower at the €2.23 level on total volumes of 24,450 shares across six trades.

This morning, the media reported that an out of court settlement was reached for all investors of the La Valette Property Fund who had not accepted the bank’s conditional offer of May 2011 and those investors who had complained about the misselling of perpetual securities by the bank.

Moreover, another media article reported that Bank of Valletta chairman Mr John Cassar White “has reneged on a commitment to take the issue of full compensation for the La Valette Property Fund investors to arbitration”.

Similarly, HSBC ended the session in negative territory with a drop of 0.8 per cent to the €1.91 level across a total of 15,788 shares.

The share price of International Hotel Investments declined by a further 2.7 per cent to a fresh all-time low of 53c5 across two deals for a total of 5,900 shares.

GO recovered from an intra-day low of €2.50 and closed this morning’s session at €2.54, representing a 0.4 per cent decline from the previous closing. A total of 26,890 shares changed hands across seven deals.

Malita Investments was the only equity that closed in positive territory, as a single deal of 3,000 shares pushed the price up 1.7 per cent to a fresh all-time high of 61c. Meanwhile, a single deal of 730,000 MIDI shares left the price of the property developer unchanged at the 21c level.

On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index reached a fresh all-time high, gaining 0.1 per cent to 1,094.216 points, as Eurozone benchmark yields slipped further towards the 0.74 per cent level as the European Central Bank issued a statement earlier today indicating that an assessment of whether sovereign bond buying is required will be carried out during the first quarter of next year.

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