Daily Market Highlights (07.07.2021)

Broad activity across local equities

 

The MSE Equity Price Index rose to its highest level in over two weeks as it surged by 1.6% to 3,933.031 points on the back of the gains registered in several equities. Meanwhile, Harvest was today’s only negatively performing equity whilst BMIT, MIA and Tigné Mall all closed unchanged as overall trading activity remained elevated at just under €0.3 million. Download today’s Equity Market Summary.

In the retail banking sector, HSBC Bank Malta plc advanced by 3.8% to a near three-week high at the €0.83 level as 18,000 shares changed hands whilst Bank of Valletta plc rose by 2.2% to the €0.925 level across 5,000 shares.

BOV’s insurance associate, Mapfre Middlesea plc inched 0.8% higher at it closed at a six-month high of €2.40 on volumes of 4,470 shares.

In the technology sector, the ordinary shares of RS2 Software plc rebounded by 6.4% to the €1.83 level across 10,000 shares whilst BMIT Technology plc closed flat at the €0.48 level as 42,400 shares changed hands. Meanwhile, Harvest Technology plc slipped by nearly 2% as it returned to the €1.50 level on activity of 2,332 shares.

Today’s most actively traded equity, GO plc, advanced by 1.8% to the €3.36 level on robust volumes totalling 51,724 shares. Trading activity in the newly issued 3.5% GO plc 2031 unsecured bonds remained strong with volumes totalling €0.55 million (nominal) as the bond advanced by a further 25 basis points to 105.00%.

Malta International Airport plc remained unchanged at the €6.40 level as 2,027 shares changed hands. Today, MIA published its June 2021 traffic results which showed that the airport operator handled 190,505 passenger movements which represents a considerable improvement over the traffic volumes recorded in the previous months. Nonetheless, when compared to June 2019, the amount of passenger movements translates into a drop of 73.6%. The top markets for the month were Italy, Germany, France, Poland and Spain, with the Spanish market re-joining the airport’s five most popular destinations following the resumption of flights to Valencia and Seville.

Elsewhere, MIDI plc surged by 6.5% as it regained the €0.426 level across 40,000 shares.

MaltaPost plc traded for the first time in nearly three weeks as it climbed by 3.3% to recapture the €1.24 level across two deals totalling 2,459 shares.

PG plc edged 0.9% higher as it returned to the €2.26 level across a single deal of 5,000 shares. Yesterday, PG announced that the company’s Board of Directors resolved to distribute a net interim dividend of €0.0296296 per share which is 14.3% higher than the corresponding interim dividend paid out in July 2020 for the 2019/20 financial year. Shareholders of PG as at close of trading on Friday 9 July 2021 will be entitled to receive the dividend which is payable on Monday 19 July 2021. Coupled with the interim dividend of €0.0185185 per share paid out in December 2020, the total net dividend per share for the 2020/21 financial year which closed on 30 April 2021 amounts to a record €0.0481481 per share, representing an 8.3% increase over the total net dividend of €0.0444444 for the previous financial year.

Similarly, Trident Estates plc rose by 4.1% to a six-week high at the €1.54 level across a single trade of 2,172 shares.

Meanwhile, Tigné Mall plc closed flat at the €0.75 level across 5,500 shares.

The RF MGS Index rebounded with a 0.21% increase to 1,099.890 points as the industrial production of Europe’s largest economy fell unexpectedly. Germany’s output dropped by 0.3% for the second consecutive month amid a reduction in the production of capital goods and energy. Meanwhile, today, the European Commission published revised Eurozone GDP forecasts with upgraded growth rates at 4.8% for 2021 and 4.5% in 2022 compared with May estimates of 4.3% and 4.4% respectively. Malta’s economy is set to grow by 5.6% this year, considerably higher than the previous forecast of 4.6%. A further 5.8% growth is expected for the Maltese economy in 2022, which results in Malta’s GDP reaching pre-pandemic levels by mid-2022. The headline inflation for the Eurozone is to increase to 1.9% this year and moderate to 1.4% in 2022, which in turn is higher than the previous forecasts of 1.7% for 2021 and 1.3% in 2022. Meanwhile in the US, 10-year treasury yields dropped to their lowest level (1.36%) since February amid signs that the economic recovery from the pandemic could be slowing.