The Malta Stock Exchange Index fell more than 16 points, or 0.5 per cent on Tuesday as investors sold financial services stocks, pushing the index down to the 3,505.841 level.

A single deal of just over 300 shares in GlobalCapital plc caused the share price of the financial services stock to tumble almost 23 per cent early in the session. Bargain hunters then came in to lift the stock off its daily low of €0.989, as the shares closed at €0.997, down 22.1 per cent, on total volume of 10,427 shares across six deals.

FIMBank plc shares were also shunned by investors yesterday. Two trades for a total of 50,000 shares exchanged hands and pushed the share price down 1c, or 1.1 per cent, as the stock closed at US$0.930.

HSBC Bank Malta plc shares also finished lower on the day, dropping 3c, or 1.0 per cent, to close at €2.950 in four deals for a total of 10,746 shares

The other banking stocks to trade in the session, Bank of Valetta plc and Lombard Bank Malta plc, both finished the session unchanged, at €3.700 and €2.650, respectively, on moderate to low volumes.

Other shares seeing activity in the session included GO plc, which gained a marginal 0c1, or 0.1 per cent, to close at €1.900 on volume of 2,400 shares across five deals.

Also trading on the day was Malta International Airport, which closed unchanged at €1.648, in a single deal of 673 shares.

Before the start of the session, Plaza Centres plc issued its interim Directors statement for the period from 1 July 2010 to 30 September 2010, in which it stated that the financial position of the company has remained satisfactory and is in line with the company’s expectations. Company turnover for the last quarter ended 30 September 2010 increased, when compared with the same period last year, while operational and finance costs also increased. The company also said that new leases are expected to come on stream during the first quarter of 2011, while occupancy for the period remained at 94 per cent.