Several equities drag MSE Equity Price Index lower

 

The MSE Equity Price Index lost 0.41% to 4,010.350 points following the declines in HSBC, BOV, BMIT, MPC and Malita. Meanwhile, MIA closed unchanged as overall trading activity eased to €0.07 million from €0.2 million yesterday. Download today’s Equity Market Summary.

In the banking sector, Bank of Valletta plc erased all of yesterday’s gains as it retraced by 1.1% to the €0.89 level across 14,655 shares. Similarly, HSBC Bank Malta plc slipped by 2.4% to the €0.83 level as 4,938 shares changed hands. Last week, HSBC published a Quarterly Update providing information about its performance in Q1 2021. Overall, HSBC reported a pre-tax profit of €9.9 million in the first three months of the year compared to the loss of €6.9 million in the same period last year.

BMIT Technologies plc lost 2% as it returned to the €0.49 level across 11,600 shares.  BMIT will be holding its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 26 May and the final net dividend of €0.02922 per share will be paid on Friday 28 May.

In the property sector, Malta Properties Company plc fell by a further 0.9% to the €0.545 level across 3,100 shares whilst Malita Investments plc dropped 3.3% to the €0.87 level across a single deal of 5,700 shares.

Elsewhere, Malta International Airport plc remained rooted to the €6.45 level as 5,739 shares changed hands.

GO plc announced that at a meeting held earlier today, the Listing Authority approved the prospectus relating to the 3.5% unsecured bonds with an aggregate principal amount of up to €60 million. GO also explained that further announcements regarding the availability of the prospectus will be made shortly. Meanwhile, GO will be holding its Annual General Meeting on Thursday 27 May and the final net dividend of €0.16 per share will be paid on Monday 31 May.

The RF MGS Index advanced by 0.07% to 1,103.701 points as the German economy contracted slightly more than initially estimated during the first quarter of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”) fell by 1.8% in contrast to the 0.5% expansion seen in Q4 2020. On an unadjusted basis, the annual decline in GDP deepened to 3.4% from 2.3% in Q4 2020. Meanwhile in the US, the Biden administration has reduced the size of its infrastructure proposal to USD1.7 trillion from USD2.25 trillion in an effort to gain bipartisan support. President Joe Biden plans to raise the necessary funding for this project by increasing the income tax rates on corporate profits and high-earning individuals.