During the first trading session of the year, the share index advanced by 0.42 per cent to 4,449.767 points as four equities registered gains and only MIA finished in negative territory. Trading volumes, however, were subdued with under €200,000 worth of equities changing hands.

The equities of the two largest companies – Bank of Valletta and HSBC – both performed positively. BOV added 0.9 per cent to the €2.37 level across 33,426 shares whilst a single trade totalling just 3,918 shares pushed the equity of HSBC one per cent higher to the €1.78 level. Bank of Valletta shares will trade with the entitlement to the one for 12 bonus share issue until January 13 and will turn ex-bonus from the following trading day.

Yet, the best performer of the day was MaltaPost as it surged 7.1 per cent to the €1.94 level albeit on insignificant volumes.

Malta Properties Company also trended higher as the equity gained three per cent to close at the 52c level on volumes totalling 43,200 shares.

On the other hand, Malta International Airport moved back to the €4 level (-0.7 per cent) across 20,140 shares. The airport operator is expected to report record passenger numbers for 2015 with a growth of over 7.3 per cent. Recently, MIA also revealed plans for a €78 million capital investment programme comprising a number of rehabilitation and upgrade initiatives as well as a €40 million business centre (branded SkyParks 2).

Meanwhile, three other equities traded unchanged on shallow volumes. FIMBank and RS2 traded at 66cUS and €3.16 respectively and GO retained the €3.02 level across 1,080 shares.

On the bond market, the RF MGS Index also started the year on a positive note as it advanced by 0.33 per cent to 1,136.788 points. Heightened diplomatic tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia and a sharp sell-off in equities on weak economic data from China led to renewed demand for safe-haven assets. In fact, the yield of the benchmark 10-year German Bund dropped from the 0.64 per cent level on December 30 to 0.57 per cent this morning.

www.rizzofarrugia.com

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