The MSE Equity Price Index extended its recent downward trend as it slipped by a further 0.61% to a seven-month low of 4,713.080 points. Trading activity was limited to only five shares, four of which (BOV, GO, PG and Trident) trended lower whilst HSBC remained unchanged. Over the past five days, the local equity index lost over 1% as several shares performed negatively. Furthermore, trading activity contracted substantially to €0.66 million compared to €1.13 million last week.
Bank of Valletta plc shed 1.9% to the €1.06 level – the lowest since mid-August 2019 – on activity totalling 41,412 shares.
Also among the large companies by market capitalisation, GO plc also lost 1.9% to the €4.18 level albeit on just 2,375 shares. Yesterday, the European Commission issued a press release stating that the European Investment Bank and GO signed a €28 million loan to finance the company'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.
In the property segment, Trident Estates plc tumbled 6.8% back to the €1.65 level on 16,750 shares.
PG plc also finished the day in negative territory with a drop of 2.2% to the €1.75 level across 4,800 shares.
Meanwhile, HSBC Bank Malta plc stayed at its multi-year low of €1.20 on trivial volumes.
The RF MGS Index erased yesterday’s rebound as it fell by 0.18% to 1,149.207 points. Despite today’s decline, the index still managed to end the week slightly higher after trending lower for seven consecutive weeks. Over the past five days, volatility in the movements of prices of Malta Government Stocks intensified amid various developments taking place internationally, including US-China trade negotiations as well as contrasting economic indicators in Europe.
Volatility also remained high across the local corporate bond market. Amongst the worst performing bonds, the 6% AX Investments plc 2024 (110.14%), the 5.3% Mariner Finance plc 2024 (106%), the 4% Stivala Group Finance plc 2027 (101.9%) and the 4.4% Von der Heyden Group Finance plc 2024 (100%) all lost around 200 basis points. On the other hand, the 5.1% 1923 Investments plc 2024 added 148 basis points to 101.5% whilst the 4.25% Mercury Projects Finance plc 2031 surged by 445 basis points to 99.95%.