The equity market turned positive by just under one per cent year-to-date, as it logged a strong performance during the four-day week.
The MSE Equity Total Return Index soared an impressive 2.2 per cent, with the bulk of the gains registered on Monday. Two of the main drivers were HSBC Bank Malta plc and International Hotel Investments plc.
Overall, nine equities headed north and six lost ground, while the other seven active equities closed unchanged. Investor participation was slightly higher this week as a turnover of €1.4 million was generated over 205 deals.
In the banking industry, HSBC Bank Malta plc completely overturned two weeks’ losses as it reached a two-month high of €1.84 on Tuesday before slightly retracting to €1.83.
Bank of Valletta plc registered a modest gain of 0.57 per cent as it closed at €1.76. A total of 157,586 shares traded over 49 deals.
FIMBank plc experienced a positive week as two transactions of 3,186 shares were executed at $0.545, pushing the share price up by 4.81 per cent.
Lombard Bank Malta plc closed unchanged at €2.30 despite a turnover of €21,768. Similarly, telecommunications company GO plc recovered from a midweek dip, to close unchanged at €3.40.
International Hotel Investments plc held its AGM on Tuesday, during which all resolutions on the agenda were approved.
The equity closed the week 10.32 per cent higher at €0.695.
On Wednesday, Malta International Airport plc published its monthly traffic results for May, showing that the company continued on the positive trend set out in the earlier months of 2018.
The equity advanced one per cent to a high of €5.05. Traded volume totalled 34,154 shares.
The positive price movement registered by MaltaPost plc last week proved unsustainable as it retracted 2.78 per cent to the €1.75 price level this week.
Mapfre Middlesea plc was the worst performer this week, as it sank 6.86 per cent to €1.90.
In the same sector, a single deal of just 250 GlobalCapital plc shares had no effect whatsoever on the share price of €0.34.
On Tuesday, RS2 Software plc issued an interim directors’ statement providing the market with some updates on recent developments. However, the equity dropped 2.56 per cent to €1.14 across 12 trades.
Simonds Farsons Cisk plc fully recovered two weeks’ losses, climbing 3.08 per cent to recapture the €6.70 price level as a couple of transactions of 3,107 Grand Harbour Marina plc shares had a positive impact on the price of the equity to close at €0.79.
Retail conglomerate, PG plc put on a modest gain of 0.78 per cent, as six deals of 54,000 shares pushed the price up to €1.29.
In the oil sector, Medserv plc registered contrasting performances during the week which ultimately balanced each other out.
As a result, the equity closed at last week’s closing price of €1.05 despite a turnover of €23,739.
Loqus Holdings plc traded flat at last week’s established price of €0.10 over a couple of trades on slim volume.
In the property sector, Tigne Mall plc fully erased the previous week’s gain as it slumped 5 per cent to €0.95. The equity traded seven times as 80,369 shares changed hands.
On Monday, Trident Estates plc announced that the AGM will be held on June 27 to approve the financial statements for the year ended January 31, 2018. A total of 19,392 shares were exchanged over three deals, however the equity closed unchanged at €1.30.
Malta Properties Company plc bounced back from a loss recorded early during the week, to close unchanged at €0.55.
Meanwhile, MIDI Investments plc announced that it shall hold its AGM on June 27.
The share price was down by 3.67 per cent to €0.42, the outcome of three transactions of a combined 18,198 shares.
Malita Investments plc climbed 1.19 per cent to €0.85 as a result of three transactions worth €10,988.
Main Street Complex plc moved in the opposite direction by 1.45% to €0.68 on its second week of trading. In total, four deals were executed, in which 27,000 shares changed hands.
Performances in the local sovereign debt market were mixed as most securities with maturities longer than 10 years registered gains, while the shorter-term instruments generally declined.
The top performer was the 4.65% MGS 2032 (I) which appreciated by 0.45 per cent to €137.08.
This issue was closely followed in the list of gainers by the 2.4% MGS 2041 (I) which bounced back from last week’s performance with a 0.43 per cent gain in price to €105.62.
On the other hand, the worst performer was the 3.3% MGS 2024 (I) which drifted 0.98 per cent lower to close at €115.85.
On the corporate debt front, out of the 33 active issues, 13 headed south while 10 gained ground as in total, €2.3 million worth of securities traded.
The 3.75% Bortex Group Finance plc Unsecured € 2027 recovered all of the previous week’s loss as it was up 2.36% to €103.95.