The benchmark index of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) came off a two-day low, but closed the trading session without any significant rise as some blue chips held their gains to a minimum, despite a number of stocks enjoying a rebound.

The reaction of the market was fairly weak even though the local bourse loosened bear grip to rally up to 0.27 percent in index. The gain, however, trimmed the losses that the benchmark index has suffered this year in terms of year-to-date performance to 1.84 percent- even though it remained in the red.

In the intervening time, sector performance closed in green as all other indices advanced higher. The benchmark GSE Composite Index (GSE-CI) climbed marginally by 7.37 points points to close at 2,738.15 points, representing a week on week gain of 0.24 percent and a month on month gain of 0.33 percent.

Similarly, the GSE Financial Stocks Index (GSE-FSI) did not disappoint, as it also increased by 0.63 percent to settle at 2,130.70 points. This led to a week on week gain of 0.55 percent, a further month on month gain of 0.41 percent. But unfortunately, the gain was not enough to lift the financial index from moving southward as it recorded a year-to-date loss of 0.98 percent.

Top Gainers and Losers

Looking into the charts for top gainers and decliners for the trading day, seventeen (17) GSE listed equities participated in trading, ending with two gainers and no losers. The Accra bourse witnessed a major buying activities in two banking tickers such as: Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (+7.69%) and SIC Insurance Company (+5.88%).

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) closed its trading day (Wednesday, March 9, 2022) at GH¢0.14 per share on the Ghana Stock Exchange, recording a pesewa gain over its previous closing price of GH¢0.13. Meanwhile, Ecobank Transnational is the fifth most traded stock on the Ghana Stock Exchange over the past three months (Dec 6, 2021 – Mar 9, 2022). ETI has traded a total volume of 1.93 million shares valued at GH¢ 259,088 over the period, with an average of 30,704 traded shares per session.

On the other hand, SIC also closed its trading day (Wednesday, March 9, 2022) at GH¢0.18 per share on the Ghana Stock Exchange, recording a 5.88 percent gain over its previous closing price of GH¢0.17.

The two financial sector stocks did not only drive a positive outing for the local bourse’s benchmark financial index, but also caused the market capitalization to inch northward. The market capitalization closed the session standing at GH¢ 63.5 billion.

Trading Activity Increases

The level of trading activities across the market ended in the green as the total value and volume traded during Wednesday’s session increased. At the end of Wednesday’s trading session on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), a total of 541,830 shares, corresponding to a market value of GHS 313,986.49, were traded.

At the close of the trading, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated ranked top among the five most traded securities by volume. ETI recorded the highest volume of 382,986 traded shares, followed by MTN Ghana (79,750), Enterprise Group (30,032) and SIC Insurance Company (16,200).

Though the benchmark indices managed to eke out gains on Wednesday, inflationary pressures and fear of a correction dented sentiments.

The Ghana Statistical Service on Wednesday, March 9, announced that inflation has soared from its previous rate of 13.9% to a new high of 15.7%.

Analysts however, suggested that investors maybe be cynical going into the final stretch of the week which may eventually affect the performance of the stock market.