The MSE Share Index trended higher for the sixth successive session today with a further 0.2% increase to 3,507.197 points. This morning’s uplift was largely due to the continued recovery in the share price of HSBC Bank Malta plc which edged a further 0.9% higher to the €1.928 level.
Trading activity in the Bank’s equity remains strong with a further 163,455 shares changing hands today following the 174,700 shares that traded yesterday. The equity will trade with the entitlement to the final gross dividend of €0.026 per share until Wednesday 18 March.
The share price of GO plc added a further 0.9% to reach yet another 7-year high of €2.79 across six deals totalling 23,000 shares. The telecoms quad-play operator is scheduled to publish its 2014 full-year results next Tuesday 10 March.
Similarly, Malita Investments plc trended 1.2% higher to yet another all-time high of €0.87 on volumes of 10,000 shares.
On the other hand, International Hotel Investments plc eased minimally lower to close at the €0.645 level across 1,551 shares.
Likewise, the equity of Middlesea Insurance plc shed 0.9% back to the €1.021 level on low volumes of 2,158 shares ahead of the 2014 full-year results publication on 11 March.
The only other negative equity was Santumas Shareholdings plc with a 1.5% drop back to the €1.97 level on a trade comprising 1,200 shares.
Meanwhile, Bank of Valletta plc held on to the €2.15 level across eleven trades totalling 29,390 shares.
Similarly, the share price of Malta International Airport plc ended this morning’s session unchanged as a further 1,964 shares were exchanged at the equity’s all-time high of €3.05 although bids have already been placed higher at the €3.06 level. The equity will trade with the entitlement to the final gross dividend of €0.1231 per share until 16 April.
On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index edged 0.1% higher to 1,134.128 points although Eurozone yields continued to creep marginally higher to the 0.38% level.
Focus this afternoon was shifted on the press conference of the European Central Bank (ECB) during which the Bank’s President Mario Draghi announced that the €60 billion a month quantitative easing programme, first revealed in January, will commence next Monday 9 March. The ECB also published its revised forecasts for the region with GDP now expected to grow by 1.5% compared to the previous forecast of 1%. Additionally, the growth forecasts for 2016 and 2017 were also raised. Meanwhile, the inflation forecast for 2015 was revised downwards to 0% for 2015 from 0.7% but raised higher for 2016 and 2017.
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