The Malta Stock Exchange Index ended the week by gaining a marginal four points, or 0.1 per cent, to close at 3,835.206 in moderately heavy volume of 134,533 shares across 54 deals.
Banking shares finished mixed as Bank of Valletta plc and HSBC Bank Malta plc shares closed finished in opposite directions. BOV stock, which traded as much as 2c lower during the session, ended the day at €3.135, down a marginal 0.2 per cent, or 0c5, on volume of 27,266 shares across 25 deals. HSBC shares, meanwhile, which also traded lower at one point in the day, closed only slightly higher, gaining 0c4, or 0.1 per cent, to end at €3.405 in 20 trades for a total of 25,670 shares.
Malta International Airport plc (MIA) shares had the day’s best performance by gaining 5c, or 2.9 per cent, to close at €1.750 in a single deal of 1,000 shares. On Thursday, MIA shares traded and closed unchanged on light volume of 3,000 shares which came on the heels of the company’s official traffic results for the year 2010, which the company issued late in the day Wednesday. The airline operator witnessed a 12.8 per cent increase in passenger movements in 2010 when compared to 2009. This increase translates into a record number of passenger movements at the airport for the year 2010 of 3.29 million.
Other shares to trade during Friday’s session, yet closed unchanged, were those of International Hotel Investments plc (IHI), and MaltaPost plc (MTP), which closed at €0.980 and €1.000, respectively. Trading volumes were robust as IHI witnessed 13,554 of its shares change hands while 67,043 shares across five deals were traded in MTP.
Trading in the corporate bond market was mixed as three of the nine bonds to trade in the session finished higher, while four closed lower and two remained unchanged. Finishing in positive territory was the 4.25% FIMBank plc USD 2013 issue, which gained US$0.50, or 0.5 per cent, to end the day at US$102.000. Putting in a negative performance, meanwhile, was the 4.6% HSBC Bank Malta Plc € 2017 bond, which lost €0.50, or 0.5 per cent, to finish the day at €102.500. Both bonds traded in light volume.