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Volumes remained uncharacteristically high on the Malta Stock Exchange for the second week running, as investors continued to shift profits from equities which have experienced a rally recently into other companies.
In the process, the Malta Stock Exchange Index gained in excess of 2.5 per cent to close the week at 5,432 points. Activity was in line with that registered in the previous week, with an aggregate 1.4 million shares traded over 1,013 deals.
International Hotel Investments was the week’s top gainer with the share price advancing by 17.7 per cent, to regain its IPO level of June 2000. Investors bought the equity all the way up to €1.02c before closing on Friday at €1.00. A total of 245,889 shares were transacted over 77 deals.
Latest developments from the bidding front helped Maltacom shares break the Lm2.00c level for the first time since April 2001. The equity had a very positive start for the week, with the equity touching an intraday high of Lm2.29c3 in the mid-week session. However, as supply started to crop up, the share price lost most of its gains, falling to Lm2.10c5 by Friday. This was still 8 per cent higher than the closing price of the previous week.
Shares in the banking sector ended mixed, with gains registered in FIMBank and HSBC Bank Malta while Bank of Valletta and Lombard were marginally moved. FIMBank shares rallied by 4 per cent, to close the week at its all-time high of $2.08c. Meanwhile shares of the largest capitalized company, HSBC Bank Malta, gained a further 2.6 per cent to close the week just shy of Lm9.00c. The equity traded even higher throughout the week closing on Monday at a new record high of Lm9.19c9.
In the remaining trades for the week, gains were registered in Malta International Airport and Simonds Farsons Cisk which advanced by 1.3 per cent and 1.2 per cent, respectively. In particular, the former was very active during Friday’s session, when an aggregate 601,406 shares were traded over 27 deals. Global Financial Services Group ended the week in the red, down by 3.1 per cent to Lm1.25.
This article was compiled by BOV Stockbrokers Ltd, a member of the BOV Group. BOVSL’s offices are situated at BOV Centre, Cannon Road, Santa Venera HMR 07. You can also contact BOVSL by email at bovsl@bov.com, by phoning on 2275 1732 or else visit he website at www.bovsl.com
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