The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) closed in the red in the week ending June 9, making it the second consecutive decline in recent times.
The decline in the two market indices was due to currency depreciation and drops in the earnings of Unilever Ghana.
The two happenings dragged the GSE Composite Index further down by 0.09 per cent to an index level of 1,917.27 points. This corresponded to a year-to-date return of 13.51 per cent.
The GSE Financial Stock Index also fell by 0.60 per cent, reflecting a year-to-date return of 15.54 per cent.
Volume of trade
At the end of the week’s trading activities, trades were far lower than observed in the previous week. The total traded volume of 0.64 million shares was 87.16 percent lower than recorded in the previous week.
This had a corresponding value of GH¢1.20 million.
Liquidity on the bourse was mainly driven by GOIL and CAL Bank, which accounting for 62.35 per cent of total traded volume.
The market capitalization also declined by 0.02 per cent to GH¢58.75 billion million.
Price movements
At the closing bell, only eight equities witnessed price movement; three advancers and five laggards.
Investors of BOPP made a massive gain, as their shares rose by 44 pesewas to close at GH¢4 per share.
GOIL and StanChart also added seven pesewas and two pesewas to close at GH¢1.70 and GH¢16.12 per share respectively.
On the flip side, Access Bank witnessed its massive loss since its enlistment last year; the bank trimmed 20 pesewas to settle at GH¢3.80 per share.
Ecobank Ghana Ltd and Unilever Ghana Ltd shed 12 pesewas and 10 pesewas to trade at GH¢7.13 and GH¢8.90 per share respectively.
GCB Bank Ltd and Enterprise Group Ltd also tumbled by three pesewas and two pesewas to end trading at GH¢5.2 and GH¢2.4 per share respectively.
Currency market
At the end of the week under review, the cedi sustained its rally against the euro, outstripped the British pound but depreciated against the US dollar.
The 19-bloc currency was significantly subdued on the international currency market after the European Central Bank’s decision to ignore proposals for policy rate cut. This and other developments dimmed investors’ expectations, putting pressure on the currency against its major counterparts.
On account of this evelopment, the cedi appreciated 0.18 per cent to trade at GH¢4.83 per a euro.
The year-to-date depreciation of the Cedi thus reduced to 8.93 per cent.
Like the euro, The British pound suffered a massive loss on the international currency market as Theresa May’s gambit badly backfired. Investors expectation for a victory of Theresa May and her government to smoothen the pending Brexit was short-lived, as the UK polls indicated a shift in majority in favour of the opposition party.
The uncertainties about the potential prolongation of the Brexit plan weighed on market sentiment, causing the pound to lose against its peers.
The cedi, taking advantage of this development, staged a weekly appreciation of 0.52 per cent to trade at GH¢5.5 per Pound. The cedi thus closed with a year-to-date depreciation of 5.86 per cent.
The US dollar strengthened even after Thursday’s event, which involved the testimony of its former FBI boss – James Comey – in connection with an alleged interference of the Russians in the recent US election and his dismissal by Trump.
Outcome of this event failed to damage market sentiment causing, the greenback to recover earlier losses.
The cedi thus lost 0.66 per cent to trade at GH¢4.32 per dollar at a year-to-date depreciation of 2.88 per cent.
Short-term securities
The yield on Treasury securities declined further in the week under review.
The 91-day and 182 Treasury bill rates trimmed by 48 basis points (bps) each to 11.91 per cent and 13.29 per cent respectively.
The 2-Year Treasury Note rate also dropped significantly by 295 bps to 17 per cent.
A total of GH¢707.78 million worth of bids were tendered at the auction but only GH¢585.57 million bids were accepted.
The purchases of both the 91-Day and 182-Day treasury securities accounted for 83.98 per cent of the total accepted bids whereas the 2-Year fixed note also accounted for the remaining 16.02 percent.
Overall, total bids accepted were below the week’s target of GH¢1,1 billion.G
The government anticipates to buy GH¢751 million worth of the 91-day and 182-day Treasury securities and GH¢300 million of the 1-year fixed note at the next auction, scheduled for June 16.
Credit: Graphic Business
