The Ghana Stock Exchange has suffered a major deep in almost all indicators leading to the biggest daily decline so far in week as market capitalization also suffered a downturn.
The bearish sentiment was echoed across the trading floor, as no gainers were recorded on the day. In the aggregate, 14 GSE listed equities participated in trading, ending with disappointingly three losers.
The three blue chips that suffered losses were Fan Milk PLC (FML), Standard Chartered Bank Ghana PLC (SCB), and NewGold ETF (GLD), with FML losing GH¢0.12, SCB losing GH¢1.90, and GLD shedding off GH¢10.53.
Meanwhile, the mid-week losses resulted in market capitalization declining by GH¢300.52 million, ending the day at GH¢67.15 billion, representing a YTD change of 4.10%.
The Ghana Stock Exchange further experienced a downturn in all benchmark indices as both the GSE-Composite Index and the GSE Financial Stocks Index suffered losses.
The GSE-Composite Index lost 25.78 points, closing at 2,685.09 points, representing a 9.87% YTD change. Similarly, the GSE Financial Stocks Index lost 44.43 points, closing at 1,810.90 points, indicating a YTD return of -11.78%.
Volume Of Traded Shares Balloons
Notwithstanding the downturn experienced across the street of the Ghana Stock Exchange, the total volume traded and total value traded saw significant increases compared to the previous trading session.
The volume traded saw a whopping 571.09% increase, with 2,315,753 shares valued at GH¢5,298,744.65, trading across fourteen (14) counters. This increase in volume was accompanied by a 1023.26% rise in the total value traded, highlighting the significant shift in market sentiment.
Characteristically, MTN Ghana again topped the trading chart, with 1,256,189 shares valued at GH¢1,507,426.80, representing 28.45% of the total value traded. This was followed by GCB Bank PLC (GCB), which traded 1,010,440 shares valued at GH¢3,182,886.00, representing 60.07% of the total value traded. The rest were Ghana Oil Company (22,950) and CAL Bank (15,795).
Meanwhile, the bearish sentiment on the Ghana Stock Exchange may be attributed to a multitude of factors, ranging from political uncertainty to global economic downturns.
However, it remains to be seen if this trend will continue, or if the Ghanaian stock market will experience a rebound in the coming trading sessions.
Undoubtedly, analysts and market watchers, cum investors will constantly keep a close gaze on the market to determine the extent of risk and opportunities that may surface in order to take advantage of it during the final days of the trading week.
In the intervening time, with the rise in trading activities, it is a clear indication that there is still a significant interest in the local bourse by investors, and it will be interesting to see how this translates into future trading sessions.
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