The MSE Equity Price Index moved 0.12% lower to 3,602.819 points on Wednesday as a decline in IHI outweighed the gains of MIA and MPC. Meanwhile, two other equities closed unchanged as total trading activity amounted to €0.04 million.
Malta International Airport plc advanced by 0.9% to the €5.65 level on eight trades totalling 3,061 shares.
Following the close of Wednesday's trading session, MIA announced that during the month of December, it welcomed 421,468 passengers which is equivalent to 88.3% of the movements handled in the same month in 2019 and marks the strongest recovery rate achieved since the start of the pandemic.
MIA explained that the seat load factor of 81% indicated that the demand for air travel remained strong. Overall, passenger movements during the entire 12-month period of 2022 amounted to 5.85 million, which is higher than the updated 2022 full-year target of 5.7 million passenger movements, but still 20% below the full-year traffic for 2019 of 7.31 million passenger movements.
The other positive performing equity – Malta Properties Company plc – moved 0.4% higher to the €0.452 level on a single deal of 1,000 shares.
In contrast, International Hotel Investments plc dropped 2.3% to the €0.625 level on one trade of 2,000 shares.
Bank of Valletta plc closed unchanged at the €0.94 level, after recovering from a low of €0.93 (-1.1%) across four deals totalling 20,000 shares.
BMIT Technologies plc traded flat at the €0.46 level on two trades totalling 4,090 shares.
MedservRegis plc announced that its subsidiary, Regis Uganda Ltd, has been awarded a contract by Vallourec Oil and Gas Uganda Ltd for the provision of Oil Country Tubular Good (OCTG). The contract term is for three and a half years and the services are to be carried out from the TotalEnergies’ Drilling Support Base inside the Industrial Area in Buliisa, Uganda.
The RF MGS Index advanced by 0.25% to 878.698 points thereby continuing the positive trend since the start of the year. Indeed, the yield for the 10-year MGS based on the CBM bid prices fell to 3.61%, compared to 3.88% as at the end of 2022. Likewise, the German 10-year bund yield eased to a near one-month low of 2.19%.
Meanwhile in the US, yesterday evening Fed Chairman Jerome Powell emphasized the need for the US central bank to make decisions that will not be popular politically to control the high inflation.