The Ghanaian equity market was unimpressive during Tuesday’s trading session with the Composite Index (GSE-CI) dropping marginally as Access Bank PLC (ACCESS) equities plunge southwards.

In the aggregate, 10 GSE listed equities participated in trading, ending with one loser, namely Access Bank Ghana, with 1.49% share price depreciation.

The unimpressive performance of Access Bank equities culminated to the bank losing five trading sessions. ACCESS closed its trading day (Tuesday, July 18, 2023) at GHS3.30 per share on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), recording a 5 Pesewa drop from its previous closing price of GHS3.35. However, Access began the year with a share price of GHS4.01 but has since lost 17.7% off that price valuation, ranking it 31st on the GSE in terms of year-to-date performance.

Access Bank Ghana is currently the 18th most traded stock on the Ghana Stock Exchange over the past three months (Apr 18 – Jul 18, 2023). ACCESS has traded a total volume of 46,287 shares valued at GHS 168,551 over the period, with an average of 735 traded shares per session. A volume high of 10,013 was achieved on June 29 for the same period.

Meanwhile, as a result of the unfavorable trading session on the Ghana Stock Exchange, the benchmark GSE-Composite Index experienced a slight dip of 0.80 points, settling at 2,861.47 points.

This downturn corresponds to a 17.09% year-to-date return, representing a 1-week loss of 3.68%, a 4-week gain of 5.55%. The decline highlighted the market’s struggle to gain traction.

The Financial Stocks Index

Concurrently, the Financial Stocks Index also faced a decline of 1.51 points, closing at 1,685.98 points and registering a disheartening -17.86% year-to-date return. However, it represents a 1-week gain of 0.04% and a 4-week loss of 0.3 per cent.

This downward trend not only impacted the bank’s prospects but also contributed to a reduction of GH¢8.70 million in the total market capitalization, which ended the trading day at GH¢70.83 billion.

Despite the overall downturn, a total volume of 47,926 shares valued at GH¢37,518.11 were traded across ten equities. Compared with the previous GSE trading day (Monday, July 17), Tuesday’s data showed 85% improvement in volume and 119% improvement in turnover.

Ecobank Transnational Inc. (ETI) stood out, dominating the volume chart by trading 27,485 shares valued at GH¢4,122.75, accounting for 10.99% of the total value traded. Additionally, Scancom (MTNGH) traded 8,672 shares valued at GH¢11,793.92, representing a significant 31.44% of the total value traded.

These market dynamics reflect the prevailing challenges facing the Ghanaian stock market, where investors grapple with volatility. Market participants are expected to closely monitor the performance of key players like Access Bank Ghana PLC., whose continued decline raises concerns about the equity’s future outlook.

In all, with majority of leading equities experiencing no price movement means that most investors are indecisive regarding the investment road to take. This means that the GSE may experience more trading activity in the coming days.