The Malta Stock Exchange ended in positive territory yesterday, albeit marginally, as the index gained over five points, or 0.16 per cent, to close at 3478.869. Forty seven deals were concluded in the equity market with 64,184 shares trading hands across six different listings.
Bank of Valletta plc lost 0c2, or 0.05 per cent, to close at €3.898 thereby losing some of the gains made in previous sessions. The shares traded in a tight trading range between €3.898 and €3.90 over 22 trades with a total of 17,150 shares traded.
Conversely, HSBC Bank Malta plc gained 0c1, or 0.03 per cent, to close at €3.25. Twelve deals were concluded in which 10,409 shares were exchanged.
Middlesea Insurance plc managed to garner the largest gains in the day as the shares closed at €0.831, thus increasing by 2c6, or 3.23 per cent with a total of 21,000 shares trading hands. The company's share price has managed to gain over 30 per cent from its recent low just over a month ago.
Lombard Bank Malta plc also gained 6c, or 2.01 per cent to close at €3.05 with a total of 2,725 shares traded.
Other companies which traded throughout the day included non-movers Go plc closing at €2.10 with 2,400 shares traded across three deals and Maltapost plc with 10,500 shares traded in three deals which saw the shares close at €0.70.
Weekly US economic review
In the United States, the manufacturing sector grew more than expected with the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing index rising to a three-and-a-half-year high of 55.9 in December from it previous reading of 53.6 over 50 indicate that more manufacturing firms said business was improving than worsening and this should restore some faith in the sustainability of the industrial recovery.
December's recovery was based on a big rebound in the new orders index to a five-year high. However, the improvement was also spread across almost all the sub-indices, with the production, employment, inventories and supplier delivery indices all recovering some of the lost ground seen in November. The only exception was the import index which was higher than the export index for the first time in 12 months. Having said this however, the continued decline in construction spending, coming in at 0.6 per cent for November, shows that the recovery is still far from being economy-wide.
On this note, home prices in the US were unchanged in October according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller indexes. This, while indicating stabilisation in the housing sector, ruined hopes of a sixth straight monthly increase.
In the meantime, US consumer confidence also rose to a three-month high in December when the Conference Board, an industry group, said its index rose to a reading of 52.9 in December from a revised 50.6 in November. This was mainly due to the fact that labour market pessimism eased.
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.