The majority of the equities declined during yesterday's trading session at the Malta Stock Exchange, however the Index moved higher by 0.4 per cent to 3,464 points as gains in the largest equity counterweighted losses elsewhere. HSBC Bank Malta was in fact the only gainer on the market following the purchase of 4,452 shares which were executed across five transactions pushing the equity higher by 5c or 1.7 per cent to reclaim the €2.95 level.

RS2 Software, the proprietary software solutions company which provides services to financial institutions, dropped below its June initial public offer price as 7,500 shares were sold across two transactions. Both trades were executed at the €0.78 level, which represents a 2c3 or a 2.8 per cent discount to its previous closing price.

A single trade executed in Grand Harbour Marina resulted in the equity trading lower by 4c9 or 2.2 per cent. The trade was executed early in the session with both buyer and seller agreeing to exchange 5,000 shares at the €2.15 level. Go dropped 3c or 1.5 per cent as a mere 1,927 shares, carrying a market consideration of €3,912, were exchanged across five transactions, squeezing the price down to €2.02.

Otherwise, Bank of Valletta and FIMBank both traded unchanged at their respective closing prices of €3.55 and $1.60 on relatively low volume activity.

Activity in the fixed interest sector of the market consisted of single trades executed in two corporate bonds and four sovereign stocks. The 7.00% GAP Developments 2011/13 shed 52 ticks as 1,100 nominal were swapped at €95.40, while the 6.70% Tumas Investments 2010/12 maintained its €100.05 level on the exchange of 3,123 nominal.

All government stocks traded higher in value, particularly the 6.60% MGS 2019 which registered the biggest movement in price by gaining 107 ticks to touch €116.17 on the exchange of 109,000 nominal. Otherwise, the 6.35% MGS 2013 gained 93 ticks to €108.54, the 6.45% MGS 2014 reclaimed €110.93, while the 7.80% MGS 2018 attracted a turnover of 100,000 nominal at the €124.61 level, which represents a positive variance of 55 ticks.

International market report - weekly round-up

Global equity markets continued to beat a retreat while commodity prices weakened further as volatility and risk aversion reached new extremes. It transpires that the market is starting to make a transition from pure financial concerns to fears over the impact of a sharp economic slowdown, with cyclical parts of equity markets, commodities and commodity currencies under substantial pressure.

Wall Street saw volatile trading with the US benchmark failing to hold on to an early rally as selling by hedge funds which are liquidating positions to meet investor redemptions or moving to cash because of extreme volatility, fuelled the recent fall in stock markets. Wall Street got a boost after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said another fiscal stimulus package might be warranted. Despite this major US indices closed the week under review in red.

European equity markets moved lower in spite of policymakers announcing further measures to support markets. The ECB announced it would provide €5 billion of liquidity to the Hungarian central bank, in an effort to help the country stabilise its currency while Sweden unveiled a plan worth more than $200 billion to support its banks. The Dutch government injected $10 billion into financial group ING while Switzerland also announced its own banking bailout by establishing a $60 billion fund or "bad bank" to buy illiquid assets and providing a capital injection for UBS. All measures were insufficient to weigh down the market downbeat as the fears of a global slowdown in global growth weighed heavily on major indices.

In Asia, Japanese equities had their biggest one-day decline since the 1987 stock market crash during the week under review in subsequent trailing session, as markets sank across the region. However, the Nikkei 225 erased all these losses as it registered a marginal gain of 0.3 per cent while the Hang Seng Index closed the week 9.65 per cent lower.

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.