Subdued activity across local equities

 

The MSE Equity Price Index moved to a fresh three-month low of 4,742.086 points (-0.17%) as the drops in HSBC and MIDI outweighed the gain in RS2. Meanwhile, three companies traded unchanged whilst trading activity contracted further as only €0.04 million worth of shares changed hands. Download today’s Equity Market Summary.

HSBC Bank Malta plc shed a further 2.4% to a new multi-year low of €1.20 across 15,262 shares.

A single deal of 3,600 shares forced the equity of MIDI plc to retreat by 0.8% to the €0.645 level.

Low trading activity also took place in the equities of Bank of Valletta plc and Malta International Airport plc which traded flat at €1.08 and €7.15 respectively.

BMIT Technologies plc maintained the €0.51 level across 28,700 shares.

Also in the technology segment, RS2 Software plc climbed 0.9% to regain the €2.16 level albeit on trivial volumes.

Today, the European Commission issued a press release stating that the European Investment Bank and GO plc signed a €28 million loan to finance GO’s investments in the continued roll-out of the Fibre-to-the-Home network. The project is expected to be implemented over three years and will support the coverage of an additional 70,000 households. GO’s equity remained inactive today.

Following yesterday’s sharp drop of 0.16%, the RF MGS Index rebounded by 0.04% to 1,151.301 points amid various developments across international financial markets. Economic growth in Q3 in the US exceeded previous expectations as GDP expanded by an annualised rate of 2.1% compared with an initial estimate of 1.9%. On the other hand, economic data in Europe was mixed but was mainly overshadowed by disappointing inflation in Germany. On the political front, fresh uncertainties over US-China trade relations emerged after US President Donald Trump signed two legislations supporting Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters.

Across the local corporate bond market, changes in the prices of a number of bonds remained volatile. Following yesterday’s upsurge of 400 basis points, the 5% Tumas Investments plc 2024 lost 398 basis points today to 102.02%. The 3.75% BOV 2026/31 shed 180 basis points to 100.2%. Furthermore, the 5% DIZZ Finance plc 2026 and the two bonds issued by Mercury Projects Finance plc also posted notable declines. On the other hand, the 4.9% Gasan Finance Company plc 2019/21 gained 198 basis points whilst the 4.35% SD Finance plc 2027 rebounded by 100 basis point