The Ghana stock market returned from the Eid ul-ftr break with more appetite for growth, as on the penultimate day of the week, its benchmark climbed for the 3rd session in a row, led by both the financial and consumer stocks.

In total, 13 GSE listed equities participated in trading, ending with two gainers and no losers. The two gainers were Unilever Ghana (+9.09%) from the consumer goods sector and GCB Bank (+1.59%) from the financial sector.

Unilever Ghana Limited (UNIL) is currently on two-day gaining streak, having gained on Wednesday and Thursday. UNIL closed its trading day (Thursday, April 27, 2023) at GHS4.80 per share on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), recording a 40 pesewa gain over its previous closing price of GHS4.40. However, it is worth noting that Unilever began the year with a share price of GHS3.88 and has since gained 23.7% on that price valuation, ranking it fourth on the GSE in terms of year-to-date performance.

Unilever Ghana is the eighth most traded stock on the Ghana Stock Exchange over the past three months (Jan 25 – Apr 27, 2023). UNIL has traded a total volume of 237,706 shares valued at GHS 665,002 over the period, with an average of 3,773 traded shares per session. A volume high of 68,086 was achieved on February 6, 2023, for the same period.

The second price gainer on the the day was GCB Bank Limited (GCB). GCB closed its trading day at GHS3.20 per share on the Ghana Stock Exchange, recording a 5 pesewa gain over its previous closing price of GHS3.15.

GCB began the year with a share price of GHS3.94 but has since lost 18.8% off that price valuation, ranking it 32nd on the GSE in terms of year-to-date performance.

GCB Bank is the third most traded stock on the Ghana Stock Exchange over the past three months (Jan 25 – Apr 27, 2023). GCB has traded a total volume of 1.74 million shares valued at GHS 5.67 million over the period, with an average of 27,645 traded shares per session.

GCB Bank Limited is currently the ninth most valuable stock on the GSE with a market capitalization of GHS 848 million, which makes about 1.24% of the Ghana Stock Exchange equity market.

Massive Improvement in Volume and Turnover

At the end of Thurday’s trading session, a total of 268,152 shares, corresponding to a market value of GHS 305,221.61, were traded. Compared with the previous GSE trading day (Wednesday, April 26), Thursday’s data showed 730% improvement in volume and 967% improvement in turnover.

Ecobank Transnational recorded the highest volume of 123,804 traded shares, followed by SIC Insurance Company (65,480), GCB Bank (50,000) and Unilever Ghana (17,400).

With regards to the performance of GSE market indices, the benchmark GSE Composite Index (GSE-CI) inched up 3.67 (0.13%) points to close at 2,741.46 points, representing a 1-week gain of 2.88%, a 4-week loss of 2.19%, but an overall year-to-date gain of 12.18%.

The GSE Financial Stocks Index (GSE-FSI) also increased by 0.13% to reach 1,758.28 points after the previous day’s stalemate, making it a 1-week gain of 0.07%, a 4-week loss of 2.91%, and a year-to-date loss of 14.34%.

Meanwhile, the current market capitalization of the Ghana Stock Exchange is GHS 67.8 billion.