The MSE Share Index closed higher for the third consecutive trading session as it advanced by a further 0.11% to a near three-week high of 4,430.575 points. However, trading activity was very low and only 4 equities traded today.
Most of today’s trading activity took place in the equity of HSBC Bank Malta plc, as eight deals totalling 29,469 shares pushed the share price to its highest level in more than seven weeks of €1.63 (+0.6%).
Also in the retail banking sector, Bank of Valletta plc closed the day marginally higher at the €2.253 level across 1,000 shares. This morning, BOV announced that its forthcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Friday 16 December 2016.
Malta Investments plc recaptured the €0.87 level (+2.2%) on a single deal of just 2,000 shares.
Meanwhile, International Hotel Investments plc maintained the €0.635 level on insignificant volumes.
On the bond market, the RF MGS Index reached a new seventeen-month high of 1,174.657 points (+0.09%) as the indicative bid prices quoted by the Central Bank of Malta for all long-dated Malta Government Stocks reached new highs. The ten-year benchmark German Bund extended its recent downward trend today as it slipped to -0.097% from -0.081% last Friday.
On the other hand, the corresponding yields of Italy and Spain moved slightly higher to 1.214% and 0.982% respectively. On the economic front, the results of a recent survey showed that German business morale rose far more than expected in September, reaching its highest level in more than two years.