Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/612918
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 9 DECEMBER 2015 12 Regular market closed – 7/12/2015 Symbol Code Volume Traded Value Traded Trades High Price Low Price Open Price Close Price Change ● 6PM 2,205 1,499.400 1 0.680 0.680 0.680 0.680 0.000 ▲ BOV 9,700 22,512.750 6 2.335 2.320 2.320 2.335 0.040 ▲ FIM 57,140 39,548.000 6 0.700 0.685 0.685 0.700 0.050 ● GO 7,900 23,149.000 2 2.950 2.910 2.910 2.950 0.000 ● HSB 630 1,133.370 1 1.799 1.799 1.799 1.799 0.000 ▼ IHI 5,000 4,075.000 1 0.815 0.815 0.815 0.815 -0.006 ● LOM 26,080 62,112.000 4 2.400 2.380 2.400 2.380 0.000 ▲ MDS 6,851 14,524.120 2 2.120 2.120 2.120 2.120 0.020 ▼ MIA 30,453 121,825.150 8 4.001 4.000 4.001 4.000 -0.010 ▼ MPC 77,183 41,887.180 10 0.561 0.520 0.561 0.520 -0.040 ▼ MTP 1,000 1,970.000 1 1.970 1.970 1.970 1.970 -0.020 ▲ RS2 3,000 9,310.000 2 3.120 3.100 3.100 3.120 0.033 ▲ SFC 250 1,600.000 1 6.400 6.400 6.400 6.400 0.030 ▲ TML 2,000 1,930.000 1 0.965 0.965 0.965 0.965 0.025 ▼ G16A 6,057 6,173.290 1 101.920 101.920 101.920 101.920 -0.020 ▲ G17C 40,000 43,196.000 2 107.990 107.990 107.990 107.990 0.030 ▲ G20A 233 282.120 1 121.080 121.080 121.080 121.080 0.080 ▲ G29BA 270,000 283,552.500 3 105.350 105.000 105.000 105.350 0.250 ▼ G32A 100,000 134,350.000 1 134.350 134.350 134.350 134.350 -0.170 ▼ G32B 2,000 2,631.800 1 131.590 131.590 131.590 131.590 -0.170 ▼ G33A 5,200 6,736.080 1 129.540 129.540 129.540 129.540 -0.180 ▼ G34A 10,000 12,635.000 2 126.350 126.350 126.350 126.350 -0.170 ▼ G40A 10,300 11,002.460 1 106.820 106.820 106.820 106.820 -0.210 ● BV19B 5,000 5,187.500 1 103.750 103.750 103.750 103.750 0.000 ● GC16A 10,000 9,700.000 2 97.000 97.000 97.000 97.000 0.000 ● HP25A 2,100 2,274.300 1 108.300 108.300 108.300 108.300 0.000 ● IG24A 5,100 5,661.000 1 111.000 111.000 111.000 111.000 0.000 ▲ IH20A 6,000 6,300.000 2 105.000 105.000 105.000 105.000 0.100 ● IH25A 10,300 11,633.550 2 112.950 112.900 112.900 112.950 0.000 ● MI17B 2,000 2,000.000 2 100.000 100.000 100.000 100.000 0.000 ● MI21A 9,500 9,500.000 2 100.000 100.000 100.000 100.000 0.000 ● PC20A 5,500 5,802.500 2 105.500 105.500 105.500 105.500 0.000 ● PG20A 2,400 2,640.000 1 110.000 110.000 110.000 110.000 0.000 Market Summary as at December 7 , 2015 Equity Offi cial List Session State ................................................................... Market Closed Number of trades ............................................................. 75 Volume Traded ................................................................. 731,082 Value of € denominated securities .................................... 865,286.670 Value of US$ denominated securities ................................ 39,548.000 Value of GBP£ denominated securities .............................. 3,499.400 Current Index ................................................................... 4,496.030 Previous Index ................................................................. 4,467.850 Change in Index (%) ......................................................... 0.631% 6pm Holdings plc .......................... 0.680 0.00% MaltaPost plc ................................. 1.970 -1.01% Bank of Valletta plc ........................ 2.335 1.74% Medserv plc .................................. 2.120 0.95% FIMBank plc .................................. 0.700 7.69% Mapfre Middlesea plc .................... 2.120 0.00% GlobalCapital plc ........................... 0.750 0.00% MIDI plc ........................................ 0.365 0.00% GO plc ........................................... 2.950 0.00% Plaza Centres plc ........................... 0.970 0.00% Grand Harbour Marina plc ............. 1.040 0.00% RS2 Software plc............................ 3.120 1.07% HSBC Bank Malta plc ..................... 1.799 0.00% Simonds Farsons Cisk plc ............... 6.400 0.47% International Hotel Investments plc 0.815 -0.73% Tigné Mall plc ................................ 0.965 2.66% Island Hotels Group Holdings plc ... 1.101 0.00% Pefaco International plc ................. 2.240 0.00% Lombard Bank Malta plc ................ 2.380 0.00% Santumas Shareholdings plc ......... 2.000 0.00% Malita Investments plc ................... 0.950 0.00% Malta Properties Company plc ........ 0.520 -7.14% Malta International Airport plc ....... 4.000 -0.25 MSE Index 12 Business Today Japan's economy avoids a technical recession Japan, which is the world's third-big- gest economy, has been in recession four times since the global financial crisis. On a quarterly basis, the latest economic numbers show gross domestic product (GDP) for the three months to September grew 0.3% - instead of initial report which showed a contraction of 0.2%. Analysts said Tuesday's numbers were stronger than expected. "What's more, GDP only shrank by 0.1% quarter on quarter [in the three months to June] instead of the earlier reported 0.2%," said economist Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics. Mr Thielant said one reason for the revision was stronger business investment, which edged up by 0.6% instead of the preliminary reported 1.3% quarter on quarter fall. Japan, which is the world's third- biggest economy, has been in recession four times since the global financial crisis. On a quarterly basis, the latest economic numbers show gross domestic product (GDP) for the three months to September grew 0.3% - instead of initial report which showed a contraction of 0.2%. Analysts said Tuesday's numbers were stronger than expected. "What's more, GDP only shrank by 0.1% quarter on quarter [in the three months to June] instead of the earlier reported 0.2%," said economist Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics. Thielant said one reason for the revision was stronger business investment, which edged up by 0.6% instead of the preliminary reported 1.3% quarter on quarter fall. Once the Federal Reserve decides to raise interest rates, perhaps as soon as next week, attention will shift to actual movement in inflation to see if the central bank's economic narrative proves accurate, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Monday. With unemployment low, policymakers have justified a liftoff of interest rates on the basis of "reasonable confidence" that inflation will rise to two percent and meet the Fed's second policy goal. "We are concerned about all the variables ... The main one is particularly the inflation variable. We have to see if that actually starts to materialize," Bullard said. If oil prices and the value of the dollar stabilize as expected and inflation fails to increase, Bullard said that would be a "blow" to the Fed's outlook and require a reevaluation of what is taking place. "If oil prices stabilize at the current level and the dollar stabilizes and we still get no change in inflation, that will have disproved our story," he said. Bullard's remarks came after a speech in which he discussed in detail the Fed's poor track record for forecasting central economic variables like growth, inflation and the unemployment rate. That "hat trick" of mistakes has pulled the central bank in conflicting directions, with a too-optimistic outlook for growth and a rebound of inflation to the Fed's target, and a too pessimistic view of how fast unemployment would decline. In setting policy, the misses on gross domestic product and inflation appeared to be given more weight, leading policymakers to keep rates near zero even as the economy neared full employment. "The negative surprises with respect to real GDP growth and inflation carried more weight during this period than the positive surprises on labor market performance," he said. An initial rate hike now appears likely to be approved when the Fed meets next week, a decision that would end seven years of near- zero rates and begin the first rate tightening cycle in a decade. At an economic policy lunch hosted by Ball State University, Bullard said the inaccuracy of Fed forecasts has created a "long-standing problem" as policymakers shift their view of the proper rate path to adapt to the gap between their forecasts and the outcome. That tension could figure directly into debate in the coming year over how fast or slow to raise rates once the initial liftoff decision has been made. Fed's Bullard says post-liftoff attention to shift to infl ation HSBC looks to global loan book to boost profi ts HSBC is looking to boost invest- ment banking profits by packaging more of its loans into bonds and sell- ing them to investors in the United States. Post-crisis regulations have made it more expensive for banks to retain loans on their balance sheet so to reduce the amount of capital it has to set aside to cover potential losses, Europe's largest bank is looking to repackage loans sold in Asia, Africa and the Middle East as bonds. HSBC has traditionally used an "originate and hold" approach to its loans. In 2013, the bank distributed only a quarter of loans made by its global banking and markets division but in the 12-month period up to April of this year, it had distributed nearly half of them, according to figures released during a presentation in June. The "originate and distribute" model of securitized debt helped fuel the 2007-08 financial crisis because so many of the bonds were linked to mortgages given to risky U.S. borrowers. The riskiness of the products were not reflected in the ratings assigned to them. HSBC was at the center of the crisis after a 2003 takeover of Household International, a lender to people with poor credit history, made it one of the biggest subprime lenders when the housing market crashed. HSBC's U.S. division, which includes retail banking and wealth management as well as investment banking, is under pressure to boost income. It made a profit of $282 million in the first six months of this year but that was less than the bank made in Canada despite U.S. revenues of $3 billion being more than triple the amount in its northern neighbor. While HSBC has said it could sell underperforming businesses in the United States, Brazil, Turkey and Mexico if they cannot be turned around, Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver bank has said the bank is likely to remain in the United States given the importance of dollar clearing for its trading business as well as providing access to U.S. companies. Dennis Lafferty, one of Goldman Sachs' top distressed-debt traders, is joining the bank later this month to run the U.S. section of a global loans and special situations unit.