During this morning’s trading session, the MSE Share Index advanced by a further 0.2% to 4,314.477 points as 4 equities gained which offset the declines in GO plc and Lombard Bank Malta plc.

Medserv plc gained 1.7% to close at a new all-time high of €3.05 on a single deal of 9,750 shares. On 27 August, the company published its 2015 interim results showing a record pre-tax profit figure of €4.5 million reflecting the heightened activity levels at the Malta base, the services provided to ENI from the Cypriot base as well as the successes of the maintenance unit which has just been awarded another contract.

The directors explained that although the results for the first half of 2015 substantially exceeded expectations, the results for the second half of the year, whilst remaining profitable, are not expected to exceed budgets.

The day’s top performer was FIMBank plc as the equity advanced by 2.2% to USD0.46 across two deals totalling 10,646 shares.

Also in the financial services sector, HSBC Bank Malta plc reversed yesterday’s decline and closed the session 0.5% higher to €1.849 on heightened activity totalling 46,009 shares.

The other positive performer of the day was Malta International Airport plc with an increase of 1.3% to the €3.90 level on shallow volumes of 5,000 shares.

On the other hand, GO plc closed 0.8% lower at €3.47 after only partially managing to recover from its intra-day low of €3.425. Activity in GO shares remained weak with only 9,261 shares changing hands today.

Lombard Bank Malta plc failed to hold on to its intra-day high of €2.15 and ended the session 1.4% lower at €2.11 across 19,318 shares.

Likewise, the equity of Bank of Valletta plc hit an intra-day high of €2.32 but dropped back to end the day unchanged at €2.30 across 24,307 shares.

RS2 Software plc also ended at its highest level ever as the equity traded unchanged from yesterday’s close of €2.52 across 13,440 shares.

On the bond market, the RF MGS Index remained largely unchanged at 1,123.755 points as the benchmark 10-year German Bund traded close to the 0.65% level in this morning.

However, yields surged towards the 0.70% level this afternoon as the European Central Bank confirmed that house prices in the Euro area are rising and this upward trend is likely to continue amid the low interest rate environment and improving employment figures.

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