After a prior gain on Wednesday, January 19, Ghana stock market on January 20, failed to hold on to the momentum and closed flat.
The blue chip stocks recorded zero price movement as activity declines a modest amount on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) to start the penultimate day of the end of the week after close of session on January 20, 2022.
The major stocks initially ticked higher on the results, before giving back those gains and dipping into the red during extended trading. It later entered the flat line and ended the session on the flat line.
According to market report, ten (10) GSE equities participated in trading. However, all the major blue chip stocks that participated in Thursday’s market session, closed without a gain or a loss. This means that the stock prices of these equities neither increased nor decreased.
That notwithstanding, trading activity declined considerably as a result of lacklustre performance of these stocks. At the end of Thursday’s trading on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), a total of 71,390 shares, corresponding to a market value of GH¢ 148,763.15, were traded.
Comparatively, this is a decline on the previous trading session. Previously, a total of 1,609,189 shares, corresponding to a market value of GH¢ 1,916,233.16 changed hands.
Market Performance
Despite the decline in stock market performance, the banking sector and petroleum and gas stocks led the market with CAL Bank Ghana recording the highest volume of shares traded.
Cal Bank Ghana closed the session as a leader with the highest volume of 40,936 traded shares. This was followed by Total Petroleum Ghana with 20,000 traded shares. MTN Ghana and Ghana Oil Company followed in that order with 4,546 shares and 3,655 shares traded respectively.
Market Indices
Regarding the performance of GSE market indices, the benchmark GSE Composite Index (GSE-CI) did not see any change, closing at the same mark as it opened at 2,789.52 points. Meanwhile, this represents a 1-week gain of 1.3 percent but a 4-week loss of 0.79 percent. This led to an overall year-to-date gain of 0.01 per cent.
Similarly, the GSE Financial Stocks Index (GSE-FSI) which constitutes only listed stocks from the financial sector including banking and insurance sector stocks, also maintained its value at 2,154.03 points, making it a 1-week gain of 0.1 percent and a 4-week gain of 3.71 percent, and a year-to-date gain of 0.1 percent.
The market capitalization which captures the total market value of all outstanding shares, hence determining the worth of various companies listed on the local bourse, also remained at GH¢64 billion.
According to some strategists, the market is heading into a volatile period in which there could be a deeper pullback.
However, analysts predict that there is going to be a rebound in stock market activity as the week ticks away, coupled with an improvement in investor confidence.
While it may seem like the stock market is going nowhere, it may be quietly winding itself up for a big climb.
