The Malta Stock Exchange Index shed just over five points, or 0.2 per cent on Friday, to close the week at the 3,478.545 level. Trading was mixed and volumes were moderate as a total of eight equities traded in the day, of which three closed lower and four ended higher, on total volume of 67,216 shares across 31 deals.

GO plc stock was the day’s biggest loser, shedding a precipitous €0.100, or 6.1 per cent, to end the day at €1.550 in six deals for a total of 9,500 shares.

Middlesea Insurance plc shares also finished considerably lower on Friday, dropping €0.040, or 4.0 per cent, to close at €0.960 on volume of 4,500 shares across seven deals.

Rounding out the issues which finished the day in negative territory was Lombard Bank Malta plc, which lost 1c5, or 0.5 per cent, to close at €3.060 in three deals for a total of 2,000 shares.

Shares of the large retail banks finished higher with Bank of Valletta plc stock adding 1c5, or 0.5 per cent, to close at €2.915 on light volume, while HSBC Bank Malta plc shares also gained in the session, adding 2c, or 0.7 per cent, to close at €2.920, also on light volume.

Also in the banking sector, FIMBank plc closed unchanged at US$0.900 in relatively heavy trading volume of 41,000 shares across three deals.

GlobalCapital plc stock was up a marginal 0c2, or 0.2 per cent, to finish yesterday’s session at €1.000 in a single deal of 720 shares.

Closing out Friday’s action was MaltaPost plc, which was also up marginally, rising 0c1, or 0.1 per cent, to end the week at €1.101 in three deals for a total of 3,626 shares.

A total of €76,700 nominal across five deals in the corporate bond market were witnessed yesterday. Trading was thin as just four equities witnessed trading with just a single bond finishing higher. The 6.25% Int. Hotel Invest. Plc € 2015-2019 bond closed €2.000, or 2.2 per cent higher, to close at €92.000 in a single deal of €10,000 nominal.

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