MSE Equity Price Index halts 2-day positive streak

 

The MSE Equity Price Index trended lower for the first time in three days as it slipped by 0.09% to 4,830.076 points. The drops in MIA, BMIT and Lombard outweighed the gains in four other companies whilst various equities closed the day unchanged. Over the past five days, the local equity benchmark eased by 0.19% as trading activity improved by slightly to €1.33 million when compared to last week. Download today’s Equity Market Summary

Malta International Airport plc lost 1.4% to the €7.20 level across 3,590 shares.

BMIT Technologies plc shed 1% to the €0.515 level on activity totalling 124,500 shares.

A single deal of 3,614 shares forced the equity of Lombard Bank Malta plc to move 0.9% lower to the €2.26 level.

Also in the banking sector, Bank of Valletta plc (4,630 shares), HSBC Bank Malta plc (2,184 shares) and FIMBank plc (39,000 shares) closed unchanged at €1.095, €1.30 and USD0.64 respectively.

RS2 Software plc maintained the €2.16 level after opening at a low of €2.10 (-2.8%). A total of 29,320 shares changed hands.

Also among the larger companies, Simonds Farsons Cisk plc maintained the €11.50 level across 3,450 shares.

Malita Investments plc and PG plc also ended flat at €0.91 and €1.79 respectively albeit on trivial volumes.

Low trading activity also took place in the equity of Grand Harbour Marina plc which rallied by 10% from its all-time low of €0.50 back to the €0.55 level.

MaltaPost plc jumped almost 5% to recapture the €1.31 level across 13,000 shares.

Mapfre Middlesea plc moved 0.9% higher to the €2.14 level on three deals totalling 9,300 shares.

Trident Estates plc advanced by 0.7% to the €1.52 level across 16,776 shares.

Today, Malta Properties Company plc issued an Interim Directors’ Statement explaining that its performance in Q3 2019 was in line with expectations and showed an improvement over the same period last year. MPC added that the construction of the Zejtun exchange and data centre is progressing, and handover to the tenant is expected during Q4 2020. The company also noted that it is actively working on the plans for the development of two of its sites which are expected to be vacated in 2021. Moreover, MPC announced that it is still in discussions with SmartCity (Dubai) FZ-LLC regarding the possible acquisition of 91% of the shares in SmartCity (Malta) and is also in active discussions on acquiring other properties.

Following the gains in the previous two days, the RF MGS Index eased by 0.05% to 1,148.953 points. During the past five days, the index shed a further 0.61% and also recorded its sixth consecutive weekly decline as investor sentiment across international financial markets remained largely buoyant reflecting increased optimism that the US and China may now be closer to reach an initial agreement over trade. Over the past six weeks, various prices of Malta Government Stocks declined considerably following the strong gains registered in the first nine months of the year, with the two longest dated MGS – namely the 3% MGS 2040 and the 2.4% MGS 2041 – dropping by over 5 percentage points.