Gains in seven counters in the banking industry, petroleum marketing sector, insurance and consumer goods sectors pushed the Ghana Stock Exchange Composite Index (GSE-CI) up by 0.20% by close of last week, May 28 2021.

The GSE composite index increased by 4.75 points to close the week at 2,421.11 with the year-to-date return of 24.70%. This depicts a 0.20% increase on the previous week which closed at 2,416. This index is computed based on the volume weighted average closing price of all listed stocks.

The gain was due to an increase in stock prices of some blue chip stocks listed on the local bourse.

Moreover, Pesewa One PLC recorded the highest gain by the close of last week of May to end the month with an impressive performance after successive weeks of losses.

The stock price of Pesewa One PLC increased from 0.62 pesewas to 0.65 pesewas representing 4.84% increase while Fan Milk also increased from GHc1.26 and closed at GHc1.32 representing a 4.76% gain.

Petroleum marketing sector

That notwithstanding, on the petroleum marketing sector, Ghana Oil Company also opened its market at GHc1.51 to close at GHc1.55 whereas, Total Petroleum Ghana opened at GHc3.25 and closed at the price of GHc3.27 representing 2.65% and 0.62% gains respectively.

Societe General Ghana PLC, Standard Chartered Bank PLC and GCB are also gainers in the banking industry with SGG gaining 3 pesewas while GCB Bank and Standard Chartered Bank gained 2 pesewas and 30 pesewas respectively.

Despite these gains, Cal Bank suffered a decline. The stock price of Cal Bank dipped from GHc0.80 to GHc0.70 representing -8.75%.

Furthermore, the Ghana Stock Exchange Financial Index (GSE-FI) marginally increased by 0.23%. Previously, it stood at 1,898.59 points but has increased to 1,902.90.

In addition, the year-to-date Ghana Stock Exchange Financial Index YTD(GSE-FI) also slightly increased from 6.50% to 6.74%.

Similarly, the GSE’s market capitalization marginally increased by 0.08% to settle at GHC59.33 billion. The market cap was GHC59.283.27 billion in the previous week.

The market cap captures the total market value of all outstanding shares on the local bourse. Also, investors can use it to determine the worth of various companies listed on the stock exchange.

Compared to the previous week, the market activity level has declined.

Market Activity

The market activity in the week under review stood at 20,620,856 shares which was valued at GHc19,535,175 million compared to 15,784,301 million shares valued at over GHC25,181,378 million that was traded in the previous week.

The trade by volume increased from 15,784,301 in the previous week to 20,620,856 depicting a 30.64% increase.

On the other hand, trade by value dipped by -22.42% from GHC25,181,378 to GHC19, 535,175.

In spite of not making any gain in the prices by week opening at GHc1 and closing at GHc1, MTN Ghana has dominated the market once again with trade by volumes and values accounting for about 9,579,314, of the total volumes traded and GHc9,577,424.09 of the total value traded. Cal Bank and UNIL followed in the second and third position respectively in trade by value representing GHc6,934,843 and GHc1,818,973 respectively.

Analysts and experts said that the surge in prices is a positive news to investors as they expect prices to further pick up this week as investors take advantage of bargain stocks.