The Malta Stock Exchange Index dropped a marginal 3 points, or less than 0.1 per cent on Friday, to close out the week at 3,272.216 on light volume of 52,573 shares across 25 deals.

Banks shares finished mixed with stock of Lombard Bank plc adding 9c, or 3.5%, to close at €2.690 in six deals for a total of 17,813 shares while Bank of Valletta plc gained 1c, or 0.4%, to finish at €2.690 in low volume of 1,100 shares across two deals.

HSBC Bank Malta plc shares also witnessed action in the session and suffered a marginal loss of 0c9, or 0.3%. At one point in the day HSBC stock was down almost 10c, but in the last few moments of trading managed to claw back most of the losses and closed at €2.890.

Putting in the days worst performance was the equity of International Hotel Investments plc, which fell 1c, or 1.3%, to end trading at €0.780 in four deals for a total of 11,960 shares.

The sole other equity to trade was that of the local real estate developer, MIDI plc, which ended unchanged at €0.44.

During the trading session, Malta International Airport (MIA) released its traffic results for the month of July in which it witnessed a 3.4 increase in passenger movements. A record high for the month of July was realised as a total 415,780 passengers passed through MIA’s gates.

Investors, in an about-face of Thursday’s trading, pushed up the prices of government bonds as eleven of the twelve bonds to trade during the session closed higher while a single issue closed unchanged. The 5.2% 2020 issue managed by largest gain, adding €1.10, or 1.0%, to close at €107.50 in a single trade of €9,318 nominal. On Thursday, all seven government bond issues that traded during that session closed lower.