The MSE Equity Price Index trended minimally higher to 4,824.165 points as the gain in Mapfre Middlesea and the extended rally in RS2 outweighed the declines in six other companies. Meanwhile, GO, MIDI and Plaza traded unchanged while trading activity remained buoyant as €0.57 million worth of shares changed hands.
RS2 Software plc added to its recent strong gains as the equity advanced by a further 4.6% to the €1.83 level after partially retreating from €1.84 (the highest level in over three years). A total of 99,815 shares traded on Thursday. RS2 is the best performing equity this year as it climbed by 47% since the end of 2018 bringing its market capitalisation above €350 million. Most of these gains took place following the company’s AGM held on June 18 during which the company provided an update of its growing pipeline of business across various geographic regions.
The other positive performing equity was Mapfre Middlesea plc which advanced by 1.8% to regain the €2.26 level albeit on trivial volumes. On Friday, the company is due to publish its interim financial results for the six-month period ended June 30, 2019.
In contrast, the share price of Bank of Valletta plc eased by 0.4% to the €1.13 level after partially rebounding from an intra-day low of €1.12. A total of 94,600 shares changed hands.
Within the same sector, HSBC Bank Malta plc also performed negatively with a drop of 0.6% to €1.56 on just 5,717 shares.
Malta International Airport plc retracted to the €7.00 level (1.4%) across 19,150 shares. On Tuesday, MIA published its traffic results for the month of June which saw an 8.8% increase in passenger movements. Overall, during the first six months of the year, MIA welcomed more than 3.2 passengers, representing a 5.9% increase over the same period last year and in line with the full-year forecast provided by MIA at the start of 2019. The airport operator also reiterated its target of handling 7.2 million passenger movements this year (+5.8%).
BMIT Technologies plc continued to trade within a tight range as the equity shed 0.9% to the €0.53 level across 20,000 shares.
In the property segment, Main Street Complex plc shed almost 4% to the €0.61 level across 44,000 shares while a single deal of just 2,700 shares forced the equity of Malta Properties Company plc to drop by 1.5% to €0.65.
Meanwhile, MIDI plc (30,700 shares) and Plaza Centres plc (56,246 shares) traded flat at €0.64 and €1.00 respectively.
GO plc maintained the €4.58 level across 4,366 shares.
The RF MGS Index trended higher for the first time in five days as it edged 0.06% higher to 1,143.749 points. Movements in the prices of Malta Government Stocks reflected a broad upsurge in international bond prices as fresh comments made by the chairman of the US Federal Reserve during his semi-annual testimony to Congress indicated that the central bank is soon likely to cut interest rates.
Stock markets are volatile and subject to fluctuations which cannot be reasonably foreseen. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.