HSBC share price at a 2-year low of €2.60

The decline in the share price of HSBC Bank Malta plc to a 2-year low of €2.60 forced the MSE Share Index to decline by 0.74% to 3,078.784 points.

Following yesterday’s 0.4% loss, HSBC’s equity slipped by a further 3.3% to close at a 25-month low of €2.60 on increased selling pressure. Volumes increased to a total of 32,638 shares as a number of outstanding bids were satisfied during the session.

Meanwhile, volumes in Bank of Valletta plc declined to just under 20,000 shares compared to the heavy volumes of over 50,000 shares in each of the last two sessions. BOV’s share price again closed the day unchanged at €2.50 after briefly touching a high of €2.505. Lowest offers are now placed at €2.59 with bids placed above the last traded price at €2.502. Last week circa 40 investors submitted a fresh judicial protest against the bank with respect to alleged mis-selling of investments. The MFSA has confirmed that it is currently investigating a number of complaints in this regard.

GlobalCapital plc’s share price doubled this morning when 3,787 shares were traded at the €1.00 level. The share price had been stuck at its all-time low of €0.50 since 27 June. The last announcement by GlobalCapital was made on 25 August, when the Group published its 2011 interim results revealing a net loss after tax of €1.6 million compared to a loss of €1.4 million for the equivalent period in 2010. The loss was mainly attributable to fair value losses amounting to €0.9 million reflecting the downturn in the capital markets.

On the bond market, European bonds rose for the second day as officials from the European Union and International Monetary Fund prepared to assess whether Greece can meet the conditions for its rescue amid concern the nation will default. German yields also dropped following another sign that the euro zone debt crisis is getting worse as Italy’s credit rating was lowered by Standard & Poor’s, the country’s first downgrade in five years. The appeal for safer assets pushed ten year German yields down to 1.739%. Meanwhile, Italian bond prices declined and 10-year bond yield rose to 5.63%. In line with the decline in German yields, the Central Bank of Malta stockbroker continued to raise the bid prices of Malta Government Stocks. The Rizzo Farrugia MGS Index edged 0.1% higher to 994.083 points. The price of the 5.25% MGS 2030 rose by 32 basis points to 103%.

Trading on the Malta Stock Exchange will resume on Thursday 22 September.