The primary equity benchmark, the Ghana Stock Exchange’s Composite Index (GSE-CI) ended the year lower than most research firms predicted.
According to figures contained in research published by indigenous investment bank, Databank, in its outlook for the final quarter of the year, it predicted the Composite Index to close the year at 2,817 points mark. It seemed the GSE-CI was on course to surpass the analysts prediction when it hit 2,800 points with few weeks to end the year. Nonetheless, final day losses suffered by the Ghana Stock Exchange sent the index on a downward spiral.
The benchmark GSE Composite Index (GSE-CI) shed 11.74 points on the final trading session of the year 2021, representing 0.42 percentage points to close the year at 2,789.34 points, falling short of the Databank’s Research predictions by 27.66 points. The final day’s loss led to a week on week loss of 0.31 percent, a monthly loss of 2.7 percent, but an overall year-to-date gain of 43.66 percent on the benchmark composite index.
The GSE-CI is a market capitalization weighted index comprising all listed ordinary shares with the exception of those of listed companies that have shares listed on other markets. Calculation of the index is based on the volume-weighted average closing price of the constituent stocks.
The GSE-CI was introduced in 2011 with a base index value of 1,000 points. This latest points garnered by the GSE represented the Composite Index’s highest value since mid-2018 when it recorded 3,483.21 points.
The Ghana Stock Exchange Financial Sector Index (GSE-FSI) which has its constituents stocks from the financial sector, including those in the banking and insurance industries, ended the year with 2,151.85 points.
On the other hand, the market capitalization which represents the total value of all listed company’s shares and calculated by multiplying the prices of stocks by its total number of outstanding shares also ended the year at GH¢ 64.5 billion.
MTN Ghana Ended the Year with a Loss
MTN Ghana (MTNGH) continued its losing streak into the final day of the year with 0.89 percent share price depreciation. MTNGH closed its trading day (Friday, December 31, 2021) at GH¢1.11 per share on the Ghana Stock Exchange, recording a GH¢0.01 drop from its previous closing price of GH¢1.12.
MTN started the year with a share price of GH¢0.64 and has since gained 73.4 percent on that price valuation, ranking it eighth on the GSE in terms of year-to-date performance.
Nonetheless, MTN Ghana ended the year as the most traded stock on the Ghana Stock Exchange over the past three months (Oct 1 – Dec 31, 2021). MTNGH traded a total volume of 66.2 million shares valued at GHS 79.4 million over the period, with an average of 1.05 million traded shares per session. A volume high of 8.21 million was achieved on December 7, 2021 for the same period.
Market Activity on the Final Day of the Year
At the end of the last weekday of trading which happened to be the final day of the year 2021, on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), a total of 178,941 shares, corresponding to a market value of GH¢ 158,139.63, were traded. Compared with the previous GSE trading day (Thursday, December 30), Friday’s data showed 307 percent improvement in volume and 140 percent improvement in turnover.
At the end of the trading session, MTN Ghana recorded the highest volume of 83,092 traded shares, followed by Ecobank Transnational Incorporated with 60,780. Societe Generale Ghana (16,528) and CAL Bank (12,800) followed in that order.
Though the prevailing pandemic resulting in stocks from some key sectors trading at valuations lower than their historical trends and earning potential, analysts projected banking stocks to perform well in the new year, 2022. Other experts also suggested there are more rooms for the composite index to rerate upwards in the coming days of the new year.
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