Daily Market Highlights (31.08.15)

  • Volatility across the local equity market persisted this morning with the MSE Share Index slipping back into negative territory with a 0.1% drop to 4,207.993 points. Download a copy of today’s Equity Market Summary.
  • On the bond market, the RF MGS Index eased 0.1% lower to 1,122,253 points as the benchmark 10-year German Bund yield moved above the 0.7% level on the back of a better-than-expected 0.2% reading of the region’s inflation for the month of August.
  • The decline in the local equity benchmark is largely due to the 1.3% drop in the share price of Malta International Airport plc back to the €3.84 level across 30,000 shares. The airport operator is scheduled to pay its recently declared interim gross dividend of €0.0462 per share (net: €0.03) on 4 September.
  • RS2 Software plc also performed negatively with a 0.4% decline back to the €2.29 level across five trades totalling 16,200 shares.
  • Also in the IT sector, the equity of 6pm Holdings plc retreated by 1.4% to the GBP0.70 level on volumes of 21,260 shares.
  • Likewise, the share price of Mapfre Middlesea plc shed 1.9% back to the €2.11 level on shallow volumes of 2,824 shares.
  • On the other hand, GO plc edged 0.4% higher to recapture the €3.495 level across four deals totalling 14,689 shares.
  • International Hotel Investments plc also continued to recover and added 0.6% to regain the €0.79 level across 24,220 shares. Last Friday IHI published its interim results showing a 14.9% increase in EBITDA to €14.25 million and a marginal loss of €0.89 million as the improvements in the performances of the hotels in Malta, Prague, Budapest, Lisbon and London were partially offset by the weakness in the properties in Russia and Libya given the challenges in the respective countries.
  • The only other positive performing equity was Plaza Centres plc with a 4% jump to close at its all-time high of €1.05 on volumes of 11,350 shares.
  • Meanwhile, Bank of Valletta plc maintained the €2.25 level across seventeen trades totalling 51,641 shares. Likewise, HSBC Bank Malta plc held on to the €1.80 level albeit on lower volumes of 1,944 shares.
  • Simonds Farsons Cisk plc traded again at its all-time high of €5.55 but only 150 shares changed hands.