The Malta Stock Exchange index closed slightly lower at the end of trading on Wednesday, dropping six points, or 0.2 per cent, to finish at the 3515.478 level. Volume remained light as 56,170 shares exchanged hands across 25 deals in five stocks.

Banking stocks finished mixed on the day as Bank of Valletta plc edged higher again yesterday to close at €3.269, up 0c4, or 0.1 per cent, in 14 trades of 27,170 shares. On Tuesday, BOV shares rose 4c on moderately light volume. HSBC Bank Malta plc, meanwhile, closed down 1c8, or 0.6 per cent, to close at €2.962 in light trading of 6,700 shares in six deals.

Shares in the Floriana-based insurance company, Middlesea Insurance plc, dropped slightly, losing 0c9, or 0.8 per cent, to end the day at €1.14. At the end of the session the best unsatisfied bid stood at €1.05 for 1,000 shares while the best unsatisfied offer stood at €1.14 for 3,700 shares.

In the tourism sector, International Hotel Investments plc (IHI) shares finished unchanged at €0.89 in two trades of 20,000 shares. Trading in IHI shares has been heavy of late, as the stock gained over 11 per cent in the last four trading sessions.

MaltaPost plc was the other stock to trade in the day. Shares in the local postal operator closed unchanged, at €0.90, in light volume of 1,000 shares across two trades.

At the end of trading, Plaza Centres plc, released their interim financial results for the six-month period ending 30 June 2010. Revenue for the period increased by 2.3 per cent, to €1.0 million, while profit before tax remained flat, at €0.7 million. The company noted that its occupancy levels for the period had decreased to 92 per cent from 99 per cent for the same period in the previous year. The drop was partly attributed to the reorganisation of space, due to a new extension of their premises, and partly attributed to a drop in occupancy of the current office floors.

Trading in the corporate bond market was relatively robust on Wednesday as €413,400 nominal across 39 deals were traded. The biggest mover on the day was the 5.90% HSBC Bank Malta 2018 issue, which dropped €0.82, or 0.8 per cent, to close at €105.25 in light trading of a single trade of €700 nominal. The other issue to make a, somewhat, considerable move in the session was the 5.35% Bank of Valletta 2019 issue, which was up €0.75, or 0.7 per cent, to close at €104.75 in a single trade of €3,000 nominal.

Trading in the government stock market continued to be heavy on Wednesday as €1,367,299 nominal was traded across 45 deals in 13 government stocks. Investors continued to dump government paper as eight of the 13 issues to trade on the day closed lower. The 5.90% MGS 2010 issue experienced the biggest loss, falling €1.01, or 1.0 per cent to close at €101.42. The 6.65% MGS 2016 I issue was also down significantly, losing €1.09, or 0.9 per cent, to close at €116.84 in a single trade of €11,500 nominal.