The Malta Stock Exchange index added more than four points, or 0.1 per cent yesterday, as investors seemed undecided on which trading direction to take. Volume was moderate as six equities were traded across 39 deals for a total of 78,671 shares.

Bank of Valletta plc shares, which traded in positive territory for most of the session, closed marginally lower, dropping 0c1, or less than 0.1 per cent, to close at €2.949 in 19 deals for a total of 29,182 shares.

HSBC Bank Malta plc shares, meanwhile, traded in the opposite fashion and closed 2c, or 0.7 per cent higher, to €2.950 after trading most of the day lower. Volume was also moderate as 29,816 shares were traded across seven deals.

Also in the financial services sector, Middlesea Insurance plc closed unchanged at €0.900 in a single deal of 303 shares.

Stock in the local telecommunications provider, Go plc, fell 1c5, or 1.0 per cent, to end the session at €1.490 in 10 deals for a total of 16,370 shares.

Maltapost plc also finished lower, shedding 1c1, or 1.0 per cent, to finish at €1.090 in a single deal of 1,000 shares.

Lastly, shares of the local airport operator, Malta International Airport plc, closed unchanged to round out the day’s equity trading at €1.770 in a single deal of 2,000 shares.

The week ahead - Economic indicators for week starting April 4

Economic data for the United States will be light this week with the only relevant indicator slated for release tomorrow – the Institute for Supply Management non-manufacturing composite index. Analysts are expecting the index to register at a level of 59.5 for the month of March versus 59.7 for February.

Also of interest this week is the release of the minutes of Federal Open Market Committee rate setting meeting of March 15. Economists are interested to see whether there are initial calls within the committee for an end to the current expansive monetary policy.

Along with the European Central Bank’s rate-setting meeting on Thursday, next week’s data will feature the service sector Purchasers Manufacturing Index and figures on German Industrial performance. For the ECB, the high rates of inflation induced by energy price developments are providing grounds to raise interest rates, despite the fragile state of the economy. Based on the latest comments by ECB president, Jean Claude Trichet, and other European central bankers, an increase in the main refinancing rate from one per cent to 1.25 per cent on Thursday is highly anticipated by analysts. The final publication of the euro-zone Gross Domestic Product numbers for the fourth quarter of 2010 are to be released on Wednesday, meanwhile, but will unlikely contain any new information.

In the United Kingdom, data scheduled to be released include Industrial production orders, National Institute for Economic and Social Research’s (NIESR) GDP estimate, and the Bank of England’s rate-setting meeting, due on Thursday.

This article has been prepared by Bank of Valletta plc (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.