The MSE Share Index closed in negative territory for the third time this week and eased a further 0.1% lower to 4,198.740 points following declines registered across most of the large cap equities.
Most notably, the share price of Bank of Valletta plc eased by 0.5% back to the €2.269 level across sixteen trades totalling 48,962 shares.
Similarly, the equity of HSBC Bank Malta plc retreated for the second consecutive session with a further 0.3% drop back to the €1.75 level on volumes of 25,000 shares. The Bank is scheduled to pay the recently declared gross interim dividend of €0.051 per share (net: €0.0332) on 10 September.
Amongst the large cap equities, International Hotel Investments plc also retreated by 0.6% back to the €0.776 level on volumes of 13,588 shares. IHI have yet to announce the date when the interim financial statements will be published.
Malita Investments plc also performed negatively with a decline of 1.5% to the €0.936 level across 11,270 shares ahead of the 2015 interim gross dividend payment of €0.0144 (net: €0.00936) on 10 September.
The only other negative performing equity was 6pm Holdings plc with 1,878 shares changing hands at the GBP0.735 level representing a 3.2% drop from the previous closing price.
On the other hand, the share price of Malta International Airport plc inched minimally higher to €3.90 on shallow volumes of 8,600 shares.
Low trading activity was also evident across the equities of Medserv plc and Mapfre Middlesea plc which ended this morning’s session at €2.37 (+1.3%) and €2.25 (+2.3%) respectively.
MIDI plc shares again trended in positive territory with a 1.4% increase to €0.35 across a single trade of 50,000 shares.
Meanwhile, RS2 Software plc maintained its all-time high of €2.30 across two deals totalling 12,256 shares.
On the bond market, the RF MGS Index slipped 0.3% back to 1,132.250 points as the 10-year yields of Spain and Italy, the region’s two major peripheral countries, increased amid the uncertainty created by yesterday’s resignation of the Greek Prime Minister and the early Greek elections to be held on 20 September. Investor sentiment was also dampened by weak data emanating from China which was however partially offset by better than expected statistics in connection with Europe’s business activity growth.
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