Investors on a bargain hunting rally on Monday, August 09, extended the gaining streak on the Ghanaian Exchange for a second consecutive trading day with food & beverage and the petroleum & gas sector stocks being the biggest gainers.
The local bourse maintained its mildly bullish performance, clawing in GHc955,432.23 in gains for investors. The gains were fuelled by buying interest in Unilever Ghana(+9.77%) and Total Petroleum Ghana (+4.74%).
On the flip side, the performance of the banking sector counter was lacklustre as one major stock lost, namely Standard Chartered bank, while the other sector stocks closed flat.
Moreover, the market capitalization also continues to trend upward making it a three consecutive day of advancement. The current market capitalization of the Ghana Stock Exchange is GHc 62.7 billion, gaining about GHc 100,000. However, the previous capitalization stood at GHc 62.6 billion.
Market Performance
Additionally, the level of trading activity also inched up. At the end of the first weekday of trading on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), a total of 496,613 shares, corresponding to a market value of GHc 955,432.23, were traded. Meanwhile, previously, a total of 27,018 shares, corresponding to a market value of GHS 25,905.33, were traded.
Moreover, in all, nine equities participated in the last trading session with MTN Ghana leading the charge. MTN Ghana recorded the highest volume of 423,892 traded shares. It was followed by Ghana Oil Company with 42,981. The banking sector was also represented by Standard Chartered Bank and Societe Generale Ghana with total traded shares of 18,057 and 4,449 respectively.
Similarly, regarding the performance of Ghaha Stock Exchange market indices, the benchmark GSE Composite Index (GSE-CI) inched up 0.08 per cent. The composite index at the last trading activity, added 2.29 points to close at 2,743.94 points. The gain represents a 1-week gain of 0.98 percent and a 4-week gain of 3.5 percent. Furthermore, it represents an overall year-to-date gain of 41.32 per cent.
However, the bearish outing of the financial sector counters affected the financial index. The GSE Financial Stocks Index (GSE-FSI), on the other hand, decreased by 0.12 percent to 1,909.05 points. Conversely, it represents a 1-week gain of 1 percent and a 4-week gain of 1.11 percent. More so, its year-to-date witnessed a gain of 7.08 percent.
Meanwhile, many experts expect the market to continue its bullish run in the coming days as demand for bargain stocks increase.
T-Bills Market
In the Ghanaian treasury bills secondary market, pockets of demand across the curve drove the market into a bullish run. GoG securities were oversubscribed by 17% as Auction 1758 raised GH¢1.28bn against a target of GH¢1.01billion making up for the shortfall in the previous auction. The market closed with the average weekly yield of both the 91-day and 182-day bills across the curve dwindling 0.35 basis points to close at 15.2 percent for under 182-day bills at the last auction.
Meanwhile, in the bonds secondary market, it was mildly positive as the average bond yield across the curve cleared positive by 0.46 percentage points to close at 16.5 percent.
However, analysts predict that the high coupon rate will lead to a sustained increase in demand for the government of Ghana short term and medium term securities.
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