The MSE Equity Price Index trended lower for the fourth consecutive trading session as it dropped by a further 0.66% to a fresh 11-month low of 4,489.486 points. Trading activity was spread across nine equities with four posting declines while the remaining five shares closed the day unchanged.
In the banking sector, Bank of Valletta plc lost 2.5% to the €1.755 level across 36,296 shares and HSBC Bank Malta plc moved back to its 2017 low of €1.85 (-0.5%) on five deals totalling 12,000 shares.
Also among the large companies by market capitalisation, RS2 Software plc retreated by 0.8% to the €1.558 level across 24,090 shares.
In the property segment, Plaza Centres plc plunged 9.6% to a four-month low of €1.002 across 19,450 shares.
In contrast, Medi plc held on to its over eight-month high of €0.33, albeit on trivial volumes.
Low trading activity also took place in the equities of International Hotel Investments plc and Malta International Airport plc which maintained the €0.63 and €4.69 levels respectively. Last Friday, MIA published an Interim Directors’ Statement updating the market on its financial performance since the start of the year. The directors noted that during the nine-month period under review, revenues grew by 13.7% year-on-year to €63.1 million, EBITDA surged by 21.9% to €39.1 million and post-tax profits rose by 25.2% to €21.4 million.
Looking ahead, MIA stated that the traffic projections for the current winter schedule are already exceeding expectations. Moreover, the company remains optimistic that Q4 2017 will follow the positive trend registered so far and that the full-year financial results are expected to exceed the revised projections dated July 27, 2017.
Two deals totalling 17,405 shares left the equity of Lombard Bank Malta plc unchanged at the €2.20 level.
FIMBank plc also closed flat at the $0.62 level after recovering from a new 2017 low of $0.60. A total of 103,389 shares changed hands.
The RF MGS Index posted a three-day negative streak as it slipped by a further 0.04% to a two-week low of 1,123.249 points.
Eurozone sovereign yields were little changed today compared to last Friday as bond markets continued to follow the latest developments in the US with respect to the potential introduction of expansionary tax reform measures.
Meanwhile, the Vice-President of the ECB was reported as saying today that the central bank is “not yet fulfilling” its mandate “and that is why monetary policy will have to continue to be very accommodative”.
Stock markets are volatile and subject to fluctuations which cannot be reasonably foreseen. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.