Following a relatively active Malta Stock Exchange session yesterday, the MSE Index continued in its negative trend to close at 4,683 points, a loss of 0.3 per cent from its previous reading.

The main laggards for the negative performance were once again the two largest listed banking sector components.

MaltaPost was the most active equity in the local market with a total of 99,587 shares being traded over 17 transactions.

Trading started at the opening bell with deals being struck at five ticks higher than the previous price, with trading continuing at higher prices to reach the €0.70 level during mid-session, a new high for this year. A large bulk of the trades were executed at this price which translates into a 4c or 6.1 per cent increase over the previous reading. Meanwhile, Maltapost announced that the interim results for the period starting October 2007 and ending March 2008 will be released on May 22.

Trading activity in Go started early in the session with 10,680 shares being traded over four deals, with the price closing at €3.12, which equates to a 3c or 1 per cent gain. Investors here are waiting for the company's full year results to be issued today.

A total of 22,850 Malta International Airport shares changed hands across three trades, with the equity closing at 1c or 0.3 per cent higher towards the end of trading. During the session a sole trade of 1,693 shares in International Hotels Investments increased the price by the slightest of margins.

HSBC Bank Malta and Bank of Valletta both registered negative closing prices, losing 1.1 and 0.26 per cent respectively.

Eurozone economic review - weekly round-up

Despite explicit ECB warnings against excessive wage increases, German steel workers secured a 5.2 per cent headline rise for 14 months last week.

This was well beyond the ECB's 3 per cent tolerance level. Should other sectors or countries follow this example, the ECB will be facing a major challenge to its creditability following Jean-Claude Trichet's warning in January that the ECB will not tolerate second round effects. This is happening at a time when due to the slowdown in global and eurozone growth, the ECB has already shifted from a tightening bias to neutral in February.

So far, however, the slowdown in the continent has been quite orderly. Following an unexpectedly sharp drop from 53.3 in December to 51.8 in January, the composite purchasing managers' index which is believed to be a good indicator of manufacturing strength, rebounded to 52.7 in February. In general, a reading above 50 indicates that the economy is thought to be bullish, while a reading below the same threshold is believed to be bearish for the economy. This modest gain was caused by a pick-up in service sector activity growth from near stagnation.

Separately, industrial orders in the eurozone fell sharply by 3.6 per cent in December. Most of this was caused by a 10 per cent month-on-month slump in the volatile transport component, which had been extremely strong in the months before with 5.4 per cent and 5.7 per cent monthly gains in October and November.

This article has been prepared by Bank of Valletta p.l.c. (the Bank), which is licensed to conduct investment services business by the MFSA, for your general information only. This information is not a solicitation or offer by the Bank to acquire or sell securities. Nor does it constitute any form of advice by the Bank. Appropriate advice should be obtained before making any such decision. Past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance and the value of your investments may fall or rise.