During this morning’s trading session on the Borza, the share price of Malta International Airport plc advanced by a further 1.7% to the €1.75 level on volumes of 6,400 shares. Following today’s upturn, the equity of the airport operator is heading for the third consecutive positive week this year. The 3.6% rise since the start of 2012 follows the company’s announcement which revealed a 6.5% increase in passenger numbers during 2011 to a new record of 3.5 million passenger movements as well as last week’s announcement of the 7 new routes by low-cost carrier Ryanair.
HSBC Bank Malta plc eased minimally lower to €2.55 on weak activity of 2,000 shares while Bank of Valletta plc and Lombard Bank Malta plc closed unchanged at €2.25 and €2.55 respectively.
Similarly no movement was recorded in the share prices of GO plc at €0.95 and Island Hotels Group, which traded for the first time since 28 October 2011, at the €0.85 level.
On the local bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index dropped by a further 0.1% to 986.968 points as Eurozone yields regained the 1.8% level. Across European stockmarkets sentiment was bolstered by the successful bond auctions of long-term sovereign debt paper by Spain and France. Spain sold €6.6 billion of sovereign bonds far exceeding the required €4.5 billion. Similarly, France received bids of €18.9 billion compared to the maximum €8 billion on offer.