MSE | Wednesday, 10 September 2008

GlobalCapital Financial Management Ltd - Malta Stock Exchange Review

End-of-session trading lifts up MSE index

The first session of the week took off rather slowly yesterday, only to pick up during the last minutes of the session and close up 0.88 per cent, or 34.673 points, to 3973.246 points.
On the banking scene, there were trades in three stocks. There were 4 trades for 4349 shares in HSBC Bank Malta p.l.c. yesterday. These trades raised the price by €0.110 to close at €3.39, an increase of 6.44 per cent from the close of 2 September of €3.185. Shares in Bank of Valletta p.l.c. edged up by a tick on 3 trades for 6000 shares to close the day at €4.70, up by €0.001. This holding also registered an increase fro last week, clocking an appreciation of 6.335 per cent. Still on the banking side, 800 FIMBank p.l.c. shares changed hands in two deals to close at USD1.909, unchanged from the close of Friday’s session.
There were 6 trades in Maltapost p.l.c. shares yesterday on strong volume of 114948 shares. Price closed up by €0.03 to close at €0.80, up 3.896 per cent from last week on the strength of this move. On the other hand, 19850 shares of International Hotels Investments p.l.c. were traded in 5 transactions, moving down by €0.01 to close at €1.04.
Elsewhere on the board, six trades for 11350 shares of GO p.l.c. shares were transacted with the closing price remaining unchanged at €2.30. Nonetheless, an improvement of 4.545 per cent was registered on this stock from the closing price of €2.20 last week.
In the fixed interest market, a total of €6,083,440 (41 Deals) were transacted in Government Bonds, whereas a total of €175,933.90 (21 Deals) was transacted in Corporate Bonds during the past week.
The turnover value in the Treasury Bill secondary market amounted to €1,407,396.70.

Issued by GlobalCapital Financial Management Ltd, 120 The Strand, Gzira, GZR1027 for information purposes only and is not intended to constitute any financial, legal or tax advice. This write up is not to be taken as investment advice to buy or sell any investment. Investors should seek professional advice prior to taking investment decisions and should note that the value of investments may fall as well as rise. Readers who would like more information are invited to send an E-mail to [email protected] or Tel: 21 342342. GlobalCapital Financial Management Ltd is a member of the Malta Stock Exchange and is licensed by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA).

Money Market Report for the week ended 5 September 2008

Further decrease in three month domestic Treasury Bill rate

Eurosystem Monetary Operations
On Monday, 1 September, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its weekly Main Refinancing Operation (MRO). This attracted bids for €226.3 billion from euro area eligible counterparties, with the ECB allotting €160 billion, or 70.7 per cent of the total amount bid for. The marginal rate, which is the rate at which the total tender allotment is exhausted, was set by the ECB at 4.39 per cent, unchanged from the marginal rate resulting from the MRO of the previous week.
Domestic Treasury Bill Market
In the domestic primary market for Treasury bills, the Treasury invited tenders for 91-day bills maturing on 5 December 2008. Bids for €112.08 million were submitted, with the Treasury accepting €53.4 million. Since €39.79 million worth of bills matured during the week, the outstanding balance of Treasury bills increased by €13.61 million to €426.1 million.
The yield resulting from the auction was 4.794 per cent, 6.7 basis points lower than that on bills with a similar tenor issued on 22 August 2008. The latest yield represented a bid price of 98.8027 per 100 nominal.
On Tuesday the Treasury invited tenders for 182-day bills maturing on 20 March 2009, and the following week it will invite tenders for 182-day bills maturing on 27 March 2009.
Treasury bill trading on the Malta Stock Exchange amounted to €773,000 with the bulk of the trades conducted by the Bank. Off-Exchange transactions amounted to €360,000.