The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) made a promising start to the new week as Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL) took the center stage and single handedly elevated the benchmark index with a huge improvement in market turnover.

Meanwhile, the market somewhat steadied as only four GSE listed equities participated in trading, ending with only one gainer, namely Guinness Ghana Breweries, with 9.8% share price appreciation, while the other three equities traded flat.

GGBL closed its trading day (Monday, July 31, 2023) at GHS 2.80 per share on the local bourse, recording GHS 0.30 gain over its previous closing price of GHS 2.55. Guinness Ghana Breweries began the year with a share price of GHS 2.05 and has since gained 36.6% on that price valuation, ranking it fifth on the GSE in terms of year-to-date performance. Shareholders can be optimistic about GGBL knowing the stock has accrued 21% over the past four-week period alone — second best on GSE.

Currently, Guinness Ghana Breweries is the third most traded stock on the Ghana Stock Exchange over the past three months (May 3 – Jul 31, 2023). GGBL has traded a total volume of 9.38 million shares valued at GHS 17 million over the period, with an average of 148,857 traded shares per session. A volume high of 2.82 million was achieved on May 9 for the same period.

The GSE Composite Index

The performance of GGBL reflected on the the Composite Index (GSE-CI). By the close of the session, the GSE-CI made an advancement of 7.70 points (0.24%). This boost was primarily attributed to the remarkable uptick in the share price of GGBL, which had a significant impact on the overall index performance. The GSE-CI closed at 2,976.77 points, showcasing a 21.80% year-to-date (YTD) return. In the intervening time, investors will be thrilled with this positive trend.

On the flip side, the Financial Stocks Index (GSE-FSI) remained steady echoing the silent price action of the listed financial stocks as the index was held firm at 1,715.17 points with a 16.44% YTD loss, making it a 1-week gain of 0.69%, a 4-week gain of 1.37%. While the lack of movement might be disappointing for some, it’s essential to remember that markets can fluctuate

Consequently, Monday’s performance dragged the market capitalization of the Ghana Stock Exchange to a new height of GHS 72.1 billion.

At the end of the first weekday of trading on the Ghana Stock Exchange, a total of 151,593 shares, corresponding to a market value of GHS 416,467.99, were traded. Compared with the previous GSE trading day (Friday, July 28), Monday’s data showed 216% improvement in volume and 407% improvement in turnover.

Guinness Ghana Breweries recorded the highest volume of 147,000 traded shares, followed by MTN Ghana (2,593), CAL Bank (1,000) and Republic Bank Ghana (1,000).

Keeping a keen eye on the market, investors should continue to monitor the performance of both the Composite and Financial Stocks Indices as the market dynamics unfold.