The Malta Stock Exchange index outpaced last week’s positive performance, as it rallied by a strong 1.22 per cent, to close at 4,601.238 points – the highest weekly gain in nine weeks.
Overall, both the sovereign bond market and the corporate bond market also experienced upward movements.
Trading in the equity market was spread across 18 equities of which half gained, six closed in the red and three remained unchanged. Total turnover exceeded the €2.1m mark.
In the banking industry, Bank of Valletta plc shares recouped some of last week’s losses as 80 trades worth over half a million euro pushed the price up by half a per cent to reach €2.25.
HSBC Bank Malta plc shares also closed off in the black by almost 2.7 per cent. This performance was backed by 160,960 shares changing hands across 36 deals. The end of week price read €1.91.
On the contrary, Lombard Bank Malta plc shares lost a fraction of the weekly gain registered last week, as one trade of 3,200 shares led to a fall of 0.4 per cent in price, to close at €2.29.
FIMBank plc shares registered a steeper decline in value as ten trades worth just over $142,000 triggered a 1.7 per cent slump in its share price, to close at $0.86.
Elsewhere, Mapfre Middlesea plc shares and GlobalCapital plc shares traded in opposite directions. The former registered a gain of 4.7 per cent across three trades of 2,858 shares, while the latter closed in the red by 6.8 per cent over a slight turnover. The respective closing prices read €2.22 and €0.41.
A total of 30,498 shares in GO plc helped the equity to close in the black by one per cent. The closing price read €3.28 – the highest closing price in seven months.
Simonds Farsons Cisk plc shares appreciated by 1.5 per cent to its 10-week high of €7 as 3,979 shares changed hands across four transactions.
Likewise, a gain of 1.7 per cent was recorded in shares of International Hotel Investments plc, after having oscillated between an intra week low of €0.495 and a high of €0.657, to then close at €0.65.
Second to none were shares of RS2 Software plc, having extended last week’s advancement by a staggering 6.2 per cent to €1.72, after failing to sustain a high of €1.798 reached intra-week – active over 30 transactions worth €176,681.
MaltaPost plc shares were also among the gainers, as turnover of €42,000 helped push the price up by 1.5 per cent to the €2.05 level as yesterday was the last day for shareholders to be entitled to the gross dividend of €0.0615 (€0.04 net).
A single trade of just 8,200 shares in Malta Properties Company plc was executed at the €0.58 price level – representing a week-on-week loss of 3.3 per cent.
Another faller for the week was Medserv plc, whose share price drifted 3.1 per cent lower to €1.599, as seven transactions of 52,950 shares were struck.
To a lesser extent, a decline of 0.9 per cent was registered in the share price of Plaza Centres plc following five deals of 64,000 shares.
Meanwhile, in the same sector, no change in price was recorded across shares of MIDI plc and Malita Investments plc – active over a turnover of €60,959 and €25,631, respectively.
The other non-movers for the week were shares of Malta International Airport plc, and Loqus Holdings plc – the latter traded on a mere turnover of €620 following five weeks of inactivity, whereas MIA shares traded over a volume of 51,790 shares worth €209,807.
In the corporate debt market, a total of 24 issues were active of which, 14 registered a gain, seven lost ground while three closed unchanged. On the other hand, on the sovereign debt front, all the 21 active issues closed in positive territory. The top performers were the 5.2 per cent Malta Government Stock 2031 and the 2.4 per cent Malta Government Stock 2041 which gained over 2.1 per cent each.
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This article, compiled by Jesmond Mizzi Financial Advisors Limited, does not intend to give investment advice and the contents therein should not be construed as such. The company is licensed to conduct investment services by the MFSA and is a member of the Malta Stock Exchange and a member of the Atlas Group. The directors and their clients are likely to have an interest in securities mentioned in this article. For further information contact Jesmond Mizzi Financial Advisors Limited at 67, Level 3, South Street, Valletta, or on Tel: 2122 4410, or e-mail info@jesmondmizzi.com.