The Malta Stock Exchange index shed seven points, or 0.2 per cent on Tuesday, as banking stocks ended mixed and shares in Malta’s local postal operator finished strongly higher.

Shares in Bank of Valletta plc continued their winning ways yesterday, gaining six cents in the session, to close at €3.34 in 13 trades of 13,750 shares.

Stock in HSBC Bank Malta plc, meanwhile, closed down 4c, as investors took some of Monday’s profits off the table. Trading was very light as 4,600 shares exchanged hands across three deals as the bank’s shares registered a 1.3 per drop to close at €3.02.

Also in the financial services sector, Middlesea Insurance plc, suffered the biggest loss on the day, losing 4c5, or 3.9 per cent, to close at €1.10 in a single trade of 495 shares.

Also losing ground in the session was GO plc. Shares in the telecommunications provider continued to suffer from weak market sentiment, as investors pushed down the price another 4c, or 2.1 per cent, to close at €1.86 in three trades of 2,300 shares.

MaltaPost plc, meanwhile, made the session’s strongest showing, gaining back the 5c drop in its stock price it witnessed on Monday to close 5.9 per cent higher and close at €0.90 in two trades of 3,000 shares.

The other stock to gain on the day was Medserv plc, which advanced 3c5, or 0.8 per cent, to close at €4.235 in two deals of 1,200 shares.

The only other stock to trade in yesterday’s session was Malta International Airport plc which closed unchanged at €1.62 in two trades of 3,000 shares.