The MSE Equity Price Index moved back below the 4,400 mark on Wednesday as it dropped by 0.22 per cent to 4,393.955 points. The decline was mostly driven by the negative performances of BOV and MIA which, in aggregate, outweighed the gains in HSBC and FIMBank.
Meanwhile, a further four shares closed the day unchanged while trading volumes improved slightly to €0.29 million.
Negative sentiment towards Bank of Valletta plc persisted as the equity slipped by a further 1.4 per cent to a fresh six-year low of €1.405 across seven deals totalling 40,093 shares. On Tuesday, BOV announced that it filed court appeals related to the recent decisions taken by Arbiter for Financial Services in relation to 50 new cases involving the La Valette Multi Manager Property Fund.
Malta International Airport plc eased to the €6.20 level (-0.8%) across 10,765 shares.
Malta Properties Company plc continued to remain volatile as the equity shed 4.8 per cent back to the €0.50 level albeit on just 15,000 shares.
Low trading activity also took place in the equities of International Hotel Investments plc and PG plc, both of which traded unchanged at €0.645 and €1.40 respectively.
GO plc held on to its 12-year high of €3.70 across 6,400 shares while two deals totalling 22,000 shares left the equity of Malita Investments plc flat at the €0.87 level.
Meanwhile, HSBC Bank Malta plc advanced by 0.6 per cent to regain the €1.77 level across 8,020 shares.
FIMBank plc climbed 1.6 per cent to $0.65 (its highest level in over seven months) on heightened activity totalling 155,683 shares.
The RF MGS Index trended higher again on Wednesday (the first two-day positive streak in almost a month) as it added a further 0.13 per cent to 1,086.548 points. Prices of Malta Government Stocks reflected movements in the yields of peripheral countries as concerns over Italy’s fiscal position subsided slightly.
Stock markets are volatile and subject to fluctuations which cannot be reasonably foreseen. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.