After registering four consecutive daily declines, the MSE Share Index edged up by 0.17 per cent to 4,466.235 points today. Activity was limited to just three shares, with two of them (BOV and Mapfre Middlesea) registering gains whilst MPC closed unchanged. Trading activity was at the lowest level this year ahead of the resumption of the interim report season next week with the publication of the financial statements by HSBC Bank Malta plc.

Bank of Valletta plc climbed 0.5 per cent to recapture the €2.21 level across 13,575 shares.

Similarly, BOV’s insurance associate, Mapfre Middlesea plc, advanced by 1.6 per cent from its one-year low of €2.01 to the €2.042 level on negligible volumes totalling 800 shares. Last week, Mapfre Mapfre Middlesea published its interim financial statements showing a 62.7 per cent decline in pre-tax profits to €5.7 million.

The only other actively traded equity today was Malta Properties Company plc which maintained the €0.51 level across 16,890 shares.

On the bond market, the RF MGS Index suffered its steepest decline in a month as it slipped by 0.18 per cent to 1,157.428 points. The 10-year benchmark German bund yield briefly touched a high of -0.014 per cent today from yesterday’s low of -0.064 per cent before settling in at -0.03 per cent.

On the economic front, fresh data issued by the European Central Bank showed that lending growth in the euro zone accelerated last month. Indeed, lending to households and companies grew by 1.7 per cent year-on-year in June, up from a 1.6 per cent reading in May.

International Hotel Investments plc is expected to reveal its allocation policy in respect of its recent 4.0 per cent €55 million secured bond offering later today.
Prices for the upcoming new Malta Government Stocks – i.e. the 1.5 per cent MGS 2022 (IV) Fungibility Issue and the 2.4 per cent MGS 2041 (I) – will be determined tomorrow afternoon. The subscription period for retail investors (up to a maximum of €100,000 nominal) will open on Monday 1 August and close on Wednesday 3 August or earlier.

This article is provided by Rizzo Farrugia Investment Consultants.

 

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