Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/801885
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 22 MARCH 2017 The euro climbed to six-week highs yesterday, with analysts attributing the rally to centrist candidate Em- manuel Macron performing well in France's first televised presidential debate. The dollar was also held back by doubts about how fast U.S. interest rate would rise. Oil prices rallied almost 1% on talk that OPEC could extend supply cuts. France's turbulent presidential campaign remained in focus for global investors, who have been concerned about the potential for a populist backlash following last year's surprise votes for Brexit in Britain and for Trump in the United States. A snap opinion poll that followed Monday's televised debate showed Macron, a former economy minister who has never run for public office before, was seen as the most convincing among the top five contenders in a marathon debate. The debate, and two others that will follow before the April 23 first round, are considered crucial in an election in which nearly 40% of voters say they are not sure who to back. "From the point of view of international investors, this is a positive as it keeps France's position in the euro zone secure, or at least not weaker," said DZ Bank analyst Rene Albrecht. Macron's presidential bid gathered pace on Tuesday after a junior minister said she would back his campaign, becoming the first member of the government to do so. The prospect of anti-euro, far- right candidate delivering a surprise election win has rattled French bond markets this year. 12 Regular market closed –21/03/2017 Symbol Code Volume Traded Value Traded Trades High Price Low Price Open Price Close Price Change s BOV 20,474 44,875.87 7 2.200 2.190 2.190 2.200 0.010 t FIM 45,000 39,435.00 3 0.889 0.870 0.870 0.889 -0.001 s GO 1,790 6,265.50 2 3.510 3.450 3.450 3.510 0.010 l HSB 15,300 31,380.30 2 2.051 2.051 2.051 2.051 0.000 l MDI 10,000 3,300.00 1 0.330 0.330 0.330 0.330 0.000 l MIA 10,750 44,612.50 4 4.150 4.150 4.150 4.150 0.000 s G20B 7,000 7,983.50 3 114.050 114.050 114.050 114.050 0.120 s G21A 9,318 11,241.24 1 120.640 120.640 120.640 120.640 0.030 t G22A 9,318 11,600.91 1 124.500 124.500 124.500 124.500 -0.030 s G22B 40,000 47,722.00 2 119.610 119.000 119.000 119.610 0.050 s G28B 70,000 90,157.60 7 128.820 128.000 128.000 128.820 0.130 s G29A 19,500 26,625.30 1 136.540 136.540 136.540 136.540 0.150 s G29B 68,000 71,683.50 8 105.500 105.000 105.000 105.430 0.130 s G30A 13,000 18,106.40 1 139.280 139.280 139.280 139.280 0.170 s G31A 96,100 134,664.93 3 140.130 140.130 140.130 140.130 0.170 s G32A 38,000 51,087.20 2 134.440 134.440 134.440 134.440 0.190 t G32B 3,800 4,978.00 1 131.000 131.000 131.000 131.000 -0.350 s G33A 75,000 97,625.40 3 130.330 130.000 130.000 130.330 0.210 s G34A 30,000 38,343.60 4 127.870 127.000 127.000 127.870 0.230 s G36A 505,900 512,381.38 15 101.480 101.100 101.150 101.180 0.030 s G39A 66,800 63,211.68 6 94.800 94.470 94.500 94.800 0.300 s G40A 192,200 209,883.24 15 109.300 108.830 108.830 109.200 0.370 t G41A 15,000 14,580.00 1 97.200 97.200 97.200 97.200 -0.020 t AX24A 46,900 51,590.00 2 110.000 110.000 110.000 110.000 -2.000 l BV19B 20,000 20,800.00 1 104.000 104.000 104.000 104.000 0.000 l BV30B 5,000 4,900.00 1 98.000 98.000 98.000 98.000 0.000 l CB21 3,000 3,090.00 1 103.000 103.000 103.000 103.000 0.000 l EF20A 2,500 2,550.00 1 102.000 102.000 102.000 102.000 0.000 s GH20A 5,700 5,871.00 1 103.000 103.000 103.000 103.000 0.990 s GP23A 30,000 30,449.60 4 101.500 101.490 101.500 101.500 0.010 t HM24A 6,000 6,359.40 2 105.990 105.990 105.990 105.990 -0.010 s IG24A 3,000 3,210.00 2 107.000 107.000 107.000 107.000 0.500 s IH21A 3,000 3,300.00 1 110.000 110.000 110.000 110.000 3.200 t IH26A 44,500 45,247.50 4 101.750 101.500 101.750 101.500 -0.490 l IH26B 30,000 30,595.40 3 102.000 101.970 101.970 102.000 0.000 l MM26A 35,000 36,400.00 2 104.000 104.000 104.000 104.000 0.000 l MS23A 1,200 1,271.88 1 105.990 105.990 105.990 105.990 0.000 l PG20A 41,000 43,050.00 2 105.000 105.000 105.000 105.000 0.000 l PG22A 11,000 11,907.50 1 108.250 108.250 108.250 108.250 0.000 l SF20A 4,100 4,229.15 1 103.150 103.150 103.150 103.150 0.000 Market Summary as at March 21, 2017 Equity Official List Session State ................................................................... Market Closed Number of trades ............................................................. 123 Volume Traded ................................................................. 1,654,150 Value of € denominated securities .................................... 1,847,131.48 Value of US$ denominated securities ................................ 39,435.00 Value of GBP£ denominated securities .............................. 0.00 Current Index ................................................................... - Previous Index ................................................................. - Change in Index (%) ......................................................... - Bank of Valletta plc ........................ 2.200 0.46% Medserv plc .................................. 1.600 0.00% FIMBank plc .................................. 0.889 -0.11% Mapfre Middlesea plc .................... 2.150 0.00% GlobalCapital plc ........................... 0.340 0.00% MIDI plc ........................................ 0.330 0.00% GO plc ........................................... 3.510 0.29% Plaza Centres plc ........................... 1.070 0.00% Grand Harbour Marina plc ............. 0.899 0.00% RS2 Software plc............................ 1.640 0.00% HSBC Bank Malta plc ..................... 2.051 0.00% Simonds Farsons Cisk plc ............... 7.200 0.00% International Hotel Investments plc 0.640 0.00% Tigné Mall plc ................................ 1.062 0.00% Lombard Bank Malta plc ................ 2.400 0.00% Pefaco International plc ................. 2.240 0.00% Malita Investments plc ................... 0.755 0.00% Santumas Shareholdings plc ......... 1.700 0.00% Malta International Airport plc ....... 4.150 0.00% Malta Properties Company plc ........ 0.520 0.00% MaltaPost plc ................................. 2.030 0.00% MSE Index Business Today French presidential debate lifts euro to six-week highs (From left to right) French presidential candidates François Fillon, Emmanuel Macron, Jean-Luc Melenchon, Marine Le Pen and Benoît Hamon BOV celebrates fifth anniversary of mobile banking platform BOV Mobile, the first mobile banking platform to be launched on the local market, celebrates its fifth anniversary on the 22 March 2017. Ivo Camilleri, Executive Electronic Banking said that, "since its launch in 2012, BOV Mobile has transformed the manner in which our customers manage their banking requirements. It has ushered in a new way of banking, with easy to use features such as balance enquiry, person-to-person payments, money transfers, and bill payments, literally at the tip of one's fingers." Trends in choice of payment methods are testimony to the keen response that the BOV Mobile channel is receiving from customers. "We have witnessed an exponential increase, both in number of subscribers and in daily usage. This drives us to keep up the momentum and launch additional features and enhancements to the BOV Mobile application," Camilleri said. BOV Mobile was a first in many respects. It embodies multiple layers of security features whilst retaining a simple user-friendly interface. In fact the transaction authentication mechanism is reduced to one screen and one field. The service is not just limited to personal needs. Among the services offered through BOV Mobile, business customers can make and receive mobile payments via BOV Mobile Pay, view the balances and transaction history of any registered accounts, transfer funds between own accounts, effect bill payments and even authorise transactions created on other BOV 24X7 channels. Anyone interested in learning more about the BOV 24X7 suite of products or BOV Mobile may visit bov.com, call BOV Customer Service Centre on 2131 2020, or enquire at any BOV branch.