The Malta Stock Exchange lost just under 23 points, or 0.7 per cent on Tuesday, to close at the 3,078.784 level as financial services stocks were the main focus of investor attention.

Shares of GlobalCapital plc soared 50c, doubling in market value, to close at €1.00 on volume of 3,787 shares across five deals.

HSBC Bank Malta plc dropped 8c9, or 3.3 per cent, to finish the day at €2.600 in twelve trades for a total of 32,638 shares.

Rounding out trading were the shares of Bank of Valletta plc, which closed unchanged at €2.500 on volume of 19,674 shares across twenty deals.

Trading in the corporate bond market was quiet as just 19 deals were executed across nine issues for a total equivalent of €129,795 nominal. Two of the nine bonds to trade in the session closed lower while the remaining seven finished unchanged. The 6.7% AX Investments Plc 2014-2016 bond dropped a marginal 5c, to end at €100.000, while the 4.8% Bank of Valletta plc Notes 2018 bond shed 1c to close at €101.990. Trading volume in both issues was relatively light.

The government bond market finished mixed as four of the eleven bonds to trade on Tuesday ended higher while six closed lower. The best performing bond was the 5.25% MGS 2030 (I) issue, which added 32c, or 0.3 per cent, to end at €103.000 in four deals for a total of €59,800 nominal. Closing on the downside was the 6.10% MGS 2015 bond which lost 36c, or 0.3 per cent, to close at €111.610 in a single deal of €13,294 nominal.