Shares tumble

The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) could be heading for declines in the coming weeks as shares of listed companies continue to drop.

Market capitalization of the GSE is expected to fall marginally in the coming weeks despite its dominance in the world as the most impressive stock market so far.

The market has been experiencing some bearish moments in the last few weeks as investors seem to be shifting their investments into other investment instruments such as treasury bills, which are giving an average of 28 percent returns.

Shares such as Unilever, SIC Insurance, Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL) have all been experiencing some marginal declines in recent times, raising the question of whether or not the GSE is responding to the effects of the global economic situation where markets have not been faring too well.

GOIL, CAL and EIC all saw their prices dipping at the end of trading yesterday, culminating in declines in market capitalization.

A research report by Databank Financial Services last Friday indicated that the Accra Bourse could be heading for declines in the coming weeks but would correct itself before the year ends.

Six stocks fell during the week with the Databank Stock Index (DSI) losing 0.60 percent to a level of 12,554.88 points.

According to the report, the bears have begun to take control of the Ghanaian market as market corrections finally settle in.

This is in spite of impressive third quarter results in a number of stocks, including Enterprise Insurance Company, and CFAO, with the high selling pressure expected to continue.

More plunges are expected next week in stocks such SIC, CAL and GOIL though the year-to-date return on the index will however remain relatively fixed.

Benso Oil Palm Plantation (BOPP) led the table of laggard equities, losing 10 percent of its share value though its year-to-date return remained high at 138.78 percent. Other shares that declined during the past week include CAL, GOIL and GCB.

The year-to-date return on the DSI also dipped to 48.35 percent while the GSE All Share Index also declined by 7.27 percent to 63.35 percent.

Similarly, the market capitalization also dropped marginally by 0.01 to GH¢18,057.51.

However, block trades in CFAO and Cocoa Processing Company ensured a huge jump in total volumes traded by 3,118 percent to 2,972,144 shares.

With the expected listing of GH¢27 million shares of UT Financial Services this month and the listing of part of $2.5 billion share of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) on the Accra Bourse, the market is expected to recover soon to continue its supremacy in the world league of stock markets.

The GSE chalked a 64 percent gain this year despite a slump in most African markets including South Africa, Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria.

Meanwhile, in Nigeria, last Thursday and Friday saw a rally in stock prices that overturned earlier losses in the week on the Nigeria Stock Exchange.

Led by Equity Bank, 17 stocks recorded gains as against only one gainer for the past two weeks.

Despite a fall in the share price of Safaricom, the most capitalized stock on the NSE, aggregate market capitalization rose to $9.09.

Similarly, surprise rallies at the close of the week helped the Kenyan market recover some of its losses.

Source: Daily Guide