Daily Market Highlights (14.01.11)

  • Second week of 2011 wrapped up by yet another positive performance in the local equity market. MSE Share Index up 0.6% today to a new 12-month high of 3,869.771 points mainly due to the gains in IHI and MIA. Another nine equities active today as the value trade reached over €1.7 million this week compared to the €1.4 million worth of trades recorded last week. Share Index closes the week 4.8% higher mainly due to the weekly increases in the three largest equities by market cap. Download a copy of today’s Equity Market Summary.
  • Meanwhile the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index eased minimally lower for the fourth consecutive session this week. Following the strong upturn in Eurozone yields to over 3%, the local bond market benchmark slid 0.3% this week to 990.292 points.
  • IHI share price continues to advance. Equity up a further 3.1% today to a new 19-month high of €0.98 on activity totalling 40,684 shares. Since the 17 December announcement that the Group is conducting a private placement of new shares at a price above the €1.00 level, the share price shot up 32.4% from is multi-year low of €0.74.
  • Banking large caps steady following recent upturn. A further 64,312 HSBC shares trade at the €3.50 level, unchanged from the previous close. HSBC ranks as the best performing equity this week with a 9.4% rise ahead of the Bank’s full-year results generally published by the end of February. Meanwhile, BOV eases minimally lower today to close at the €3.15 level representing a weekly rise of only 2.2%.
  • Over 156,000 shares trade in FIMBank plc with its share price sliding 2.1% to the US$0.92 level. Full-year results expected to be published on 3 March.
  • MIA up 1.2% to hit a new 32-month high of €1.67. The airport operator is shortly expected to publish its December passenger statistics. The yearly growth figure should comfortably surpass the 8% forecast as MIA has already registered a 13% rise in passenger numbers during the first eleven months of 2011.
  • The other positive performers today were Middlesea Insurance plc (+3.5%) and Island Hotels Group (+10.9% to just below its August 2009 IPO price of €1.00).
  • Meanwhile Lombard Bank’s equity slips by 1.1% to the €2.75 level on low volumes of 1,900 shares. The other three active equities, namely GO, MaltaPost and RS2 Software, all closed unchanged.