Daily Market Highlights (12.12.16)

  • Following five consecutive sessions of gains, the MSE Share Index eased minimally lower during this morning’s trading session to 4,505.431 points as the declines in IHI and Malta Properties offset the positive performances of six other equities. Download a copy of today’s Equity Market Summary.
  • On the bond market, Malta Government Stock prices extended last Friday’s downturn with a further sharp reduction today. The recently issued 2.1% MGS 2039 (I) touched an all-time low of 97.50% before marginally rebounding to end this morning’s session at the 98% level representing a 350 basis point drop since last week’s close. The downturn follows the outcome of last Thursday’s monetary policy meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB). Although the ECB extended its quantitative easing programme by nine months till December 2017, it decided to scale down the size of the bond buying programme to €60 billion a month from €80 billion as from April 2017.
  • The share price of Lombard Bank Malta plc climbed by 4.7% to regain the €2.20 level across seven deals totalling 28,000 shares. Similarly, the share price of HSBC Bank Malta plc edged 0.3% higher to recapture the €1.86 level albeit on a single trade of 1,000 shares.
  • In the banking sector, FIMBank plc also edged 0.6% higher as it closed this morning’s session at the USD0.85 level across 30,000 shares. Last week, the international rating agency, Fitch Ratings, announced that it upgraded the credit rating of FIMBank plc to ‘BB’ from ‘BB-‘ largely due to the capital and funding support provided to FIMBank by its major shareholders, namely Burgan Bank and United Gulf Bank, as well as the increased management and operational integration of FIMBank with Burgan Bank.
  • RS2 Software plc closed the day 1.9% higher at the €1.60 level across five deals totalling 14,787 shares.
  • Likewise, MaltaPost plc trended in positive territory with a 1.3% increase to recapture the €1.90 level on volumes of 49,532 shares. The equity of MaltaPost plc will trade with the entitlement to the final net dividend of €0.04 per share until Friday 23 December.
  • The only other positive performing equity today was Tigné Mall plc with a 4.4% jump to a fresh all-time high of €1.20 although across an insignificant deal of just 150 shares.
  • On the other hand, the share price of International Hotel Investments plc slumped 3.8% back to the €0.615 level on a trade of just 93 shares.
  • Malta Properties Company plc shed 3.5% back to the €0.579 level on volumes of 4,900 shares.
  • Meanwhile, Bank of Valletta plc maintained the €2.28 level on low volumes totalling 5,000 shares.
  • Similarly, Malta International Airport plc held on to the €4.038 level after rebounding from an intra-day low of €4.001 on volumes of 3,100 shares.