The MSE Equity Price Index opened the week in negative territory as it slipped by 0.6% to 3,931.549 points. Most of the decline was due to the negative performances of RS2, HSBC and MIA whilst a further three shares also closed the day lower.
Meanwhile, BOV and Lombard ended unchanged as total trading activity remained subdued with only €0.06 million worth of shares changing hands.
Malta International Airport plc was the most actively traded equity today as it moved 0.8% lower back to the €6.35 level across 3,732 shares.
A single deal of just 2,000 shares forced the ordinary share price of RS2 Software plc to retract by 0.5% to the €1.93 level.
HSBC Bank Malta plc inched 0.6% lower to the €0.80 level on a total of 12,223 shares.
Mapfre Middlesea plc (1,248 shares) and Plaza Centres plc (5,800 shares) lost over 5% to €2.12 and €0.85 respectively.
Medserv plc traded for the first time in three weeks as it equity shed 9.1% to the €0.75 level across 4,500 shares.
Bank of Valletta plc (2,500 shares) and Lombard Bank Malta plc (4,579 shares) traded flat at €0.91 and €1.95 respectively.
The RF MGS Index extended last Friday’s uplift with a marginal gain of 0.02% to 1,103.041 points as the MGS yield curve continued to flatten. Today, the Central Bank of Malta (“CBM”) published an economic update showing that industrial production (which is a measure of economic activity in the quarrying, manufacturing and energy sectors) turned positive in April following five monthly declines. Similarly, the volume of retail trade rebounded strongly in annual terms whilst the number of registered unemployed fell compared with the previous month March although the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.8%.
The analysis also showed that Maltese residents’ deposits expanded at an annual rate of 7.4% in April, following an increase of 7% in the previous month, while annual growth in credit to Maltese residents decelerated to 9.4% from 11.6% a month earlier. Meanwhile, the CBM noted that although economic sentiment was lower in May, this remained above its long-term average.
This afternoon, the Treasury announced that the prices for the two new Malta Government Stock issues totalling up to €80 million, namely: (i) the 0.25% MGS 2026 (III) FI at 101.25% (YTM: 0.018%); and (ii) the 1.8% MGS 2051 (I) at 100% par (YTM: 1.80%). Subscriptions from the General Public open on Wednesday 23 June and close on Friday 25 June or earlier in the case of over-subscription.