Following the declines suffered in the previous two trading sessions, the share index rebounded by 0.15% to 4,711.969 points as the gains registered in the share prices of Plaza Centres (+4.5%), BOV (+0.9%) and Tigne’ Mall (+0.1%) outweighed the drops in Farsons (-1.4%) and MaltaPost (-0.5%).
Trading activity eased to a four-week low of €0.2 million.
Bank of Valletta erased yesterday’s decline as it recaptured the €2.17 level (+0.9%) across 48,503 shares.
In the property segment, Plaza Centres surged 4.5% to regain its all-time high of €1.15 whilst Tigne’ Mall moved 0.1% higher to the €1.12,1 level. Trading activity in both equities was very low.
Shallow volumes were also transacted in HSBC and Malta International Airport which closed flat at €2.02 and €4.05 respectively.
Also among the large companies, GO held on to its eight-month high of €3.45 after opening at an intra-day low of €3.43 (-0.6%). A total of 11,200 shares changed hands.
Similarly, FIMBank maintained the 89cUS level after recovering from an intra-day low of 87cUS on volumes totalling 36,000 shares.
Meanwhile, Simonds Farsons Cisk slipped by 1.4% from its record high of €7.30 to the €7.20 level on trivial volumes.
The other negative performing equity today was MaltaPost which finished the day 0.5% lower at the €2.03,9 level on two deals totalling 3,100 shares.
On the bond market, the RF MGS Index extended yesterday’s drop by a further 0.19% to 1,117.196 points – the lowest since mid-July 2015.
The opening indicative bid prices of the Central Bank of Malta for all Malta Government Stocks (MGS) were lower today. In particular, the bids for the longer-dated MGS issued in August and October last year – i.e. the 2.4% 2041 I issued at 101.75% and the 2.10% 2039 I R issued at 102.5% – fell to fresh all-time lows of 98.67% and 95.00% respectively.
On the economic front, fresh data showed that German industrial production fell by an unexpected annual rate of 3% in December 2016 from an upwardly revised growth of +0.5% in the preceding month.
Meanwhile, divergence between the monetary policy of the US Fed and the European Central Bank continued to influence bond markets. Yesterday, the ECB President Mario Draghi acknowledged that monetary stimulus was still needed despite the fact that inflation is rising sharply in some euro-area countries (predominantly reflecting increases in energy prices).
In contrast, FOMC member Patrick Harker was reported as saying that the possibility of an interest rate hike by the Fed “is on the table” for the next monetary policy meeting to be held on 15 March 2017.
The Treasury will announce the offer prices for the three new Malta Government Stocks tomorrow afternoon. Subscriptions open on Monday 13 February and close on February 15 for the public or earlier in the case of over-subscription.
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