The MSE Equity Price Index moved above the 4,800 mark as it gained 0.77% to end the day at 4,825.639 points on Thursday.
The uplift was largely driven by IHI which, coupled with the gains in BOV, HSBC and FIMBank, outweighed the declines in five other equities. Meanwhile, seven other companies closed unchanged.
Trading activity improved markedly to €0.39 million on the back of strong activity in MIDI shares. MIDI plc shed 2.1% to the €0.705 level across 287,588 shares having a market value of €0.2 million and representing 52% of today’s total value of equities traded.
Within the same segment, Trident Estates plc plunged 14% to the €1.60 level albeit on trivial volumes. Low trading activity also took place in PG plc and Medserv plc which retracted by 1.1% and 3.2% to €1.85 and €1.20 respectively.
The only other negative performing equity today was GO plc as it slipped by 0.5% to €4.34 after partially recovering from an intra-day low of €4.20 (-3.7%). A total of 7,500 shares changed hands. In contrast, International Hotel Investments plc surged 9% to regain the €0.85 level albeit on just 1,175 shares.
On Tuesday, IHI announced that it has entered into contractual arrangements to develop, lease and operate a new luxury hotel in central Rome. The new 55-room Corinthia Hotel Rome will be replacing the building formerly occupied by the Central Bank of Italy.
Works on the property are expected to commence in 2020. Bank of Valletta plc and HSBC Bank Malta plc also trended higher today. BOV recaptured the €1.10 level (+0.9%) across 43,723 shares whilst HSBC advanced by 0.8% to the €1.27 level on five deals totalling 7,544 shares.
FIMBank plc climbed 1.6% to USD0.64 on 30,015 shares. Meanwhile, BMIT Technologies plc (€0.53), Lombard Bank Malta plc (€2.26) and Simonds Farsons Cisk plc (€12.10) all traded unchanged on low volumes.
Similarly, Malta Properties Company plc and Main Street Complex plc ended flat at €0.67 and €0.60 respectively on shallow activity. Malta International Airport plc retained the €7.25 level after failing to hold on to an intra-day high of €7.30 (+0.7%).
A total of 2,080 shares traded. Plaza Centres plc stayed at the €1.03 level across 27,300 shares. The RF MGS Index erased most of yesterday’s strong uplift as it slipped by 0.18% to 1,166.542 points. Prices of Malta Government Stocks dropped as eurozone sovereign bond yields trended higher ahead of the ECB’s monetary policy meeting. The central bank left interest rates unchanged and reiterated that these will “remain at their present or lower levels” until inflation moves closer to the ECB’s target of around 2%.