Further high volumes in GO

GO plc once again attracted the highest volumes as activity increased to 335,650 shares today with the share price edging 0.6% higher to the €0.855 level. During the past week, over 678,000 shares changed hands representing almost 0.7% of the issued share capital. These high volumes probably came in response to the explanation of the Group’s strategy by the newly appointed CEO during a meeting with the local financial community. The market now awaits the Board’s decision on whether to inject further equity into its joint-venture investment vehicle Forgendo for participation in the Forthnet rights issue.

Elsewhere across the local equity market, similar to previous sessions this week, relatively shallow volumes were transacted. During this morning’s session, Bank of Valletta plc eased minimally lower to €2.275 across 7,031 shares to end the week 1.3% higher. HSBC Bank Malta plc also registered a weekly increase of 0.2% as the equity held on to the €2.74 level today on volumes of 14,250 shares. Meanwhile, for the fifth consecutive week, Lombard Bank Malta plc shares ended in negative territory with a 0.5% drop to the €1.93 level as it failed to recover from this multi-year low during this morning’s session in which 13,000 shares changed hands.

A single trade of 50,000 Malta International Airport plc shares traded today at the €1.759 level representing a 0.5% increase from the previous close. MIA ended the week at a new 7-week high. MIDI plc traded unchanged at the €0.28 level (400 shares) to preserve this week’s earlier 12% jump.

On the bond market, the Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index was practically unchanged at 993.952 points to end the week 0.1% lower. This week’s dip in the local MGS benchmark does not fully reflect the rally in Eurozone yields which today touched a new 19-week high of 1.701%. Benchmark yields in Europe were first lifted by the approval of Germany’s Constitutional Court with respect to the permanent bailout fund of the Eurozone. Subsequently, the new stimulus measures announced by the US Federal Reserve on Thursday rekindled investors’ appetite for risk resulting in higher yields for the sovereign paper of safe haven Germany whilst lower yields for the debt of riskier countries such as Italy and Spain.