Financial Results Slow Market Activities
Stock managed a higher end last Friday, after dull sessions throughout the week fuelled by investors' perception of the second quarter results.
Generally, activities on the Ghana exchange were not very active during the week, as both volume and value traded were low throughout the week.
The volume of shares traded last week reduced over the previous week. A total of 333,200 shares exchanged hands at the end of last week as against a volume of 857,100 shares traded in the previous week.
The most traded equities were Ecobank Transnational, Guinness Ghana Breweries and SIC Insurance, which traded 27.07 per cent, 10.35 per cent and 12.18 per cent respectively.
That notwithstanding, the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) All-Share Index managed a slight increase from 10,480.61 points in the previous week to 10,515.86 points last week, representing a week–to–date change of 0.34 per cent.
The major indicators of the market are as follows: Foremost, the GSE year-to-date advanced by 0.54 per cent from 58.80 per cent in the previous week to 59.34 per cent last week.
Secondly, the GSE All-Share Index advanced by 35.25 points from the previous week's figure of 10,480.61 points to 10,515.86 points at the close of trading last week.
Total market capitalisation also went up by GH¢25.33 million from the week's opening figure of GH¢17.746.94 billion to GH¢ 17.772.27 billion as of the close of trading last Friday.
Top gainers
Though activities were slower last week, eight equities recorded price appreciations for the week. PZ had 6.38 per cent ncrease in share price; Enterprise Insurance, Guinness, Unilever and Ecobank also grew in market prices by four per cent, 2.17 per cent, 2.08 per cent and 1.15 per cent respectively.
TOTAL, Fan Milk and Stanchart were the other gainers with 0.49 per cent, 0.28 per cent and 0.05 per cent capital appreciations respectively.
Currency market
The cedi made remarkable gains against most of the major currencies on the inter-bank market.
Throughout the week, the cedi performed creditably as it put pressure on the euro and the pound.
This could be partly attributed to the central bank's decision to increase the prime rate.
That notwithstanding, the US dollar continued to extend its strength on the cedi as it has been doing to its peers on the international market, holding a six-week high against the cedi.
The Gold Coast Securities CEDI INDEX last week recovered from the loss it made in the previous week.
The index, which measures the value of the Ghana cedi against the dollar, the pound, the CFA and the euro, dropped from its record high of 113.73 points the previous week to 113.53 points, last Friday.
The index appreciated by 0.20 points as a week gain, representing a year-to-date depreciation of 9.31 per cent and a base year-to-date depreciation of 13.53 per cent.
This came as a result of the cedi appreciating against the pound and the euro throughout the week. It nevertheless lost against the dollar and the CFA.
The Index is calculated as a geometric weighted average of changes in the four currency rates against the cedi at the Inter-bank market, relative to a base of 100 set on July 3, 2007, when the Bank of Ghana re-denominated the national currency.
It is inversely proportional with a quote of 105.50 meaning the cedi value has depreciated 5.50 per cent since the base period, while a quote of 85.3 means the cedi has gained 14.77 per cent since its base year.
By the end of last Friday, the British Pound dipped to GH¢2.0697 from the week's opening figure of GH¢2.1045.
This represented a year-to-date change of GH¢0.1522 and a corresponding depreciation of 7.94 per cent.
The cedi stood at GH¢1.0724 to the dollar representing a year-to-date depreciation rate of 10.87 per cent, while one euro traded at GH¢1.6271 which brought its year-to-date depreciation to 14.80 per cent.
On the forex market, the cedi traded at GH¢1.10 to the dollar, GH¢2.10 to the pound sterling and GH¢1.70 to the euro as of last Friday.
Money market update
Treasury rates continued to go up on the Ghanaian market. All the interest rates quoted on government of Ghana securities soared last week.
The 91-day bill went up by 127 basis points to close at 22.06 per cent, while the 182-day bill also went up by 269 basis points to close at 25.46 per cent.
The yields quoted on the 1-Year note climbed to 20.00 per cent from 19.50 per cent in the previous week, while the 2-Year Note also went up to 18.00 per cent.
— Credit: Gold Coast Securities