The MSE Equity Price Index moved to the highest level in 16 weeks as it advanced by 1.67% to 3,960.473 points. The gains in seven equities outweighed the declines in HSBC and Trident. Meanwhile, MPC remained unchanged as overall trading activity improved to €0.21 million.
PG plc ended the session at a new all-time high as the equity added 0.8% to the €2.52 level on four trades totalling 18,827 shares. PG will be holding its annual general meeting on Thursday 21 October.
Simonds Farsons Cisk plc surged by 16.3% to a five-month high of €10.00 across three deals totalling 10,500 shares. The large majority of today’s trades took place at the €8.65 level.
Elsewhere, Maltapost plc climbed 4.1% to the €1.28 level on two trades totalling 2,000 shares.
GO plc advanced by 3.1% to the €3.36 level on three deals totalling 1,828 shares.
Malta International Airport plc added 1.7% to the €6.15 level as 4,000 shares changed hands. On Wednesday, MIA announced that during the month of September 2021, it welcomed 418,473 passengers which is the strongest monthly figure since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Moreover, although the number of passenger movements in September 2021 is 45.1% lower than that of the corresponding month in 2019, on the other hand it is virtually at par to the volume of passengers recorded in January 2020 and February 2020 prior to the pandemic in Europe.
Bank of Valletta plc rose by 1.1% to the €0.88 level across seven trades totalling 30,403 shares.
The ordinary shares of RS2 Software plc gained 1.2% to the €1.75 level on negligible volumes.
Meanwhile, HSBC Bank Malta plc lost 2.4% to the €0.80 level across two deals totalling 1,882 shares.
Trident Estates plc eased by 1.3% to the €1.55 level as 5,000 shares changed hands.
A single trade of 1,500 shares left the share price of Malta Properties Company plc at the €0.57 level. Last week, MPC announced that it entered into an agreement for the sale of the Birkirkara Old Exchange for €8 million. The agreement is valid for a period of twelve months.
The RF MGS Index moved 0.20% lower to 1,081.115 points. Today, the National Statistics Office of Malta published the annual inflation rate for September which reached 0.7%, up from 0.4% in the previous month, with the main price pressures coming from food and non-alcoholic beverages.
Elsewhere, the US economy added fewer jobs than expected during September. However, the unemployment rate dropped to the lowest rate since March 2020 at 4.8% from 5.2% in the previous month. The decline in the size of the US workforce puts further doubts on the possibility of the Federal Reserve’s decision to reduce monetary support before the end of the year.
Today, Hili Properties plc published a presentation in relation to the proposed issuance of 185,185,185 new shares at €0.27 each with a total value of €50 million. The company is expecting the approval of its prospectus in relation to this Initial Public Offering by 25 October.