The MSE Equity Price Index on Thursday eased by 0.13% to 3,547.922 points as declines of four equities outweighed the gain in the share price of HSBC. Meanwhile, AX Real Estate plc remained at the €0.54 level on one deal of 5,000 shares.
Nearly half of Thursday's trading occurred in the shares of HSBC Bank Malta plc as it surged by 8.1% to the €0.80 level on ten deals totalling 87,000 shares.
In contrast, Bank of Valletta plc slipped by 3.2% to €0.90 after partly recovering from a low of €0.85 (-8.6%) across eight trades totalling 49,328 shares.
Malta International Airport plc fell by 0.9% to the €5.55 level across four trades totalling 5,156 shares.
International Hotel Investments plc eased by 0.8% to the €0.60 level, albeit on one deal of 1,010 shares.
A single trade of 1,000 shares moved the share price of PG plc 1% lower to the €2.06 level.
The RF MGS Index shed 0.13% to 889.119 points as eurozone sovereign bond yields remained volatile with the German 10-year bund resurfacing above the 2.20% level, after dropping below the 2.10% level yesterday.
ECB Executive Board member Fabio Panetta reportedly stated that the central bank will not commit to future rate hikes after its March meeting, thus fuelling further uncertainty to the market. Elsewhere, the US GDP growth rate for Q4 2022 was at an annualised rate of 2.9%, which is higher than expectations but lower than the 3.2% increase of the previous quarter.