Trading activity during the last trading day of the week on the Malta Stock Exchange ended on a negative note for the second day in a row, albeit marginally. Thus, the Malta Stock Exchange Index lost 0.7% to close at the 3,041.216 level. Trading in the equity market was limited to just two equities which both ended the session in the red. Trading consisted of 17 trades in which a total of 42,876 shares changed hands.

Bank of Valletta shares were the worst performers in yesterday’s session. Here the price declined by seven cents, which is equivalent to a decrease of 3.3%, to finish the day at the €2.080 level. Trading during the day took place between a low of €2.079 and a session high of €2.150. This equity was the most liquid as turnover was made up of 15 deals in which a total of 37,876 shares were transacted.

The only other equity which traded yesterday was HSBC Bank Malta. This equity also ended the session in the red as the share price lost 0c1, or 0.04% to close the day at €2.699. Trading in this equity was light as a total of 5,000 shares changed hands across two deals.

In the fixed income sector of the market, activity was spread across four corporate bonds and 10 government stocks. In the corporate bond market, one bond registered an increase in price, another registered a loss, while the other two remained unchanged. Here, the 7.15% Mediterranean Investments Holding plc 2015-2017 in euro was the only gainer, increasing by 0.8% to close at €101.58. On the other hand, the session’s loser in the corporate bond market was the 6.8% Premier Capital plc Bond 2017-2020 in euro, which dropped by 0.5% to close the day at €105.00.

Contrary to what we saw in Thursday’s session, activity in the government bond market was largely positive with nine out of the 10 bonds that were active registering a gain and only one registering a loss. The session’s best performer was the 4.6% MGS 2020 (II), which gained 0.35 per cent, to close at €107.47. On the other hand, the 5.1% MGS 2014 (III) was the only stock to register a negative close, shedding a marginal 0.03% to close at €106.05. Total Malta government stock turnover amounted to a nominal value of €1,154,964 across 37 transactions.