The share index extended yesterday’s decline by a further 0.21 per cent to 4,521.525 points on persistently low trading volumes as only €183,000 traded across the equity market.
Ahead of the March 31 interim results publication on Friday, Bank of Valletta eased another 0.3 per cent to a fresh two-month low of €2.21,1 across 44,489 shares.
Medserv closed minimally lower at the €1.79,7 level (-0.1 per cent) across 13,100 shares. The company is due to hold its annual general meeting on May 30.
Mapfre Middlesea lost 4.3 per cent to a near three-month low of €2.20 across trivial volumes. Today was the last day for the entitlement to the recently declared net dividend of 3c826 per share (payable May 22). The equity trades ex-dividend as from tomorrow.
Meanwhile, HSBC regained the €1.61 level (+0.4 per cent) across 9,829 shares.
MIDI regained the 39c level on low volumes of 10,400 shares.
Simonds Farsons Cisk closed the day 0.2 per cent higher at €6.12 ahead of the January full-year results to be published on May 12.
On the other hand, RS2 Software maintained the €3.80 level across 4,000 shares. The IT services group is scheduled to publish its 2015 full-year results tomorrow.
Also among the large companies, Malta International Airport held on to the €4.34 level across shallow volumes totalling 550 shares. MIA is due to hold its AGM on May 4.
6pm Holdings closed flat at the 87p9 level across 8,555 shares. The company has not yet published its full-year results for 2015. 6pm will be convening an extraordinary general meeting tomorrow during which shareholders will be asked to authorise the board of directors to furnish all the required information, including unpublished price sensitive information, to enable any bona fide offeror(s) and their respective advisors to make, confirm, withdraw or modify an offer to all shareholders in the company.
The other active equity today was Malta Properties Company which retained the 58c level across a single deal of 3,700 shares.
On the bond market, the RF MGS Index continued to suffer losses as it edged down for the eight consecutive day to a seven-week low of 1,143.453 points (-0.11 per cent).
Euro bond yields continued to gain ground as fresh data showed that bank lending to euro zone firms grew in annual terms in March at a slightly faster pace than in the previous month, showing that the ultra-loose monetary policy stance currently being adopted by the European Central Bank (ECB) is continuing to leave the desired effects.
Meanwhile, the price of oil continued to march higher, hitting the highest levels since November 2015. The 10-year benchmark German Bund yield briefly topped the 0.3 per cent mark for the first time in 11 weeks.
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