The share index shed a further 0.2 per cent during this morning’s session to drop back to a new two-week low of 3,773.428 points largely reflecting the deceases in the share prices of HSBC and International Hotel Investments.

The equity of HSBC eased by 0.5 per cent to €1.86 on volumes of 43,913 shares. Similarly, International Hotel Investments dropped 1.4 per cent back to the 68c level on volumes of 29,400 shares.

The only other negative performing equity was 6pm Holdings with a 1.3 per cent decline back to the 74p level on a single trade of 11,041 shares.

On the other hand, Bank of Valletta inched minimally higher to close this morning’s session at the €2.28 level albeit on shallow volumes of 4,300 shares.

Similarly, the share price of RS2 Software edged 0.6 per cent higher to recapture the €3.18 level across 6,500 shares.

Yesterday evening, RS2 published its interim directors’ statement confirming a new agreement with a Vietnamese bank whilst also revealing contract negotiations with a UK processing company.

The announcement also stated that works on the Gozo office is at an advanced stage and expected to commence operations in the third quarter of this year. In a separate company announcement, RS2 also revealed that shareholders will be asked to approve a 2 for 1 share split during the upcoming annual general meeting scheduled to be held on June 9.

Meanwhile, GO held on to the €2.98 level after managing to recover from an intra-day low of €2.96,5 across 11,100 shares.

Malita Investments also held on to its previous day’s closing price of 88c across two deals totalling 6,310 shares.

On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index trended in negative territory for the third consecutive session with a further 0.1 per cent drop back to 1,143.539 points as benchmark 10-year German Bund yields remained close to the 0.7 per cent level this morning.

However, by this afternoon, the benchmark 10-year Eurozone yield fell back to 0.623 per cent as investor sentiment was dampened by the weaker-than-expected economic growth Germany which weighed down on the growth figures across the single-currency bloc.

The eurozone’s economy grew by 0.4 per cent which although ranks as the fastest growth in almost two years, is still marginally below expectations.

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