The share index moved lower for the third consecutive trading session today as it slipped by a further 0.3% to a one-week low of 4,647.102 points. Trading activity was limited to four equities only but overall volumes still improved from yesterday to €0.26 million.

The most activity traded equity was MaltaPost which rebounded by 2.5% to the €2.05 level on heightened activity totalling 77,864 shares. The postal operator is due to hold its annual general meeting on January 27 during which shareholders will be asked to approve a net dividend of 4c per share (to be paid on February 27).

The equity of Bank of Valletta advanced for the fifth consecutive trading session as it inched 0.2% higher to the €2.18,5 level across 31,492 shares.

In contrast, HSBC closed the day 2.1% lower at €1.91 after touching an intra-day low of €1.90. A total of just 3,031 shares changed hands. The bank is expected to reveal its 2016 annual results on February 21. The directors will also consider the declaration of a final dividend to be recommended during the annual general meeting to be held on April 13.

Two deals totalling 16,000 shares pulled the equity of Medserv back to the €1.62 level – representing a decline of 2.4%.

On the bond market, the 0.23% rebound in the RF MGS Index yesterday proved short-lived as the Index fell by 0.28% today to a five-day low of 1,138.824 points.

Euro zone sovereign yields gained ground (bond prices fell) amid encouraging inflationary data. Indeed, fresh statistics issued today showed that the euro zone Consumer Price Index (CPI) advanced 0.5% month-on-month in December from -0.1% in the previous month whilst the Core CPI, which excludes volatile components like food and energy, came in at 0.4% from -0.2% in November.

On a yearly basis, the CPI rose by 1.1% in 2016 – the highest in three years. Nonetheless, these figures are still below the European Central Bank’s target of an inflation rate of close but lower than 2%.