The domestic market opened without any sense of direction as it moved across the line from red to green and to the flat line, without any directional bias.

The local bourse finally ended Wednesday, May 19 trading session with mixed results, as two major stocks posted gains while one heavyweight blue-chip headed lower, inflicting losses– albeit minimal on the benchmark.

The telecommunication sector and the banking sector stocks clearly have a positive day, tipping the balance of stocks in favor of winners.

Overall, 14 GSE-listed equities participated in trading, ending with two gainers and just one loser. The two gainers were MTN Ghana (+2.17%) and CAL Bank (+1.11%). The only equity that lost value on the day was GCB Bank (-0.39%).

Meanwhile, MTN Ghana which was being beaten left, right and center ever since the e-levy was introduced, has started climbing again. The telecom giant successfully completed the session with two consecutive days of gaining. MTN Ghana closed its trading day (Wednesday, May 18, 2022) at GHS0.94 per share on the domestic market, recording a 2 pesewa gain over its previous closing price of GHS0.92.

That notwithstanding, MTN began the year with a share price of GHS1.11 but has since lost 15.3 percent off that price valuation, ranking it 32nd on the GSE in terms of year-to-date performance. The latest gain in value might reduce shareholders’ worries knowing that MTN shares started picking up again.

Adding to the gainers list is Cal Bank. CAL closed its trading day (Wednesday, May 18, 2022) at GHS0.91 per share on the local bourse, recording a pesewa (1.11%) gain over its previous closing price of GHS0.90. Cal Bank also began the year with a share price of GHS0.87 and has since gained 4.6 percent on that price valuation, ranking it eighth on the GSE in terms of year-to-date performance.

The Only Loser on the Day

However, GCB Bank PLC was the only laggard on the day. The bank closed its trading day (Wednesday, May 18, 2022) at 5.07 GHS per share on the Accra bourse, recording 17 pesewas (0.39%) drop from its previous closing price of GHS5.09. GCB began the year with a share price of GHS5.24 but has since lost 3.24 percent off that price valuation, ranking it 30th on the GSE in terms of year-to-date performance.

Moreover, GCB Bank is the 10th most traded stock on the Ghana Stock Exchange over the past three months (Feb 14 – May 18, 2022). The bank has traded a total volume of 653,688 shares valued at GHS 3.34 million over the period, with an average of 10,376 traded shares per session. A volume high of 500,037 was achieved on April 28, for the same period.

The Indices Responded

The benchmark GSE Composite Index (GSE-CI) responded to the gains by MTN and Cal Bank by moving up by 23.58 (0.91%) points to close at 2,610.99 points. This represents a week-on-week gain of 1 percent, but a month-on-month loss of 3.2 percent, and an overall year-to-date loss of 6.39 percent.

Similarly, the GSE Financial Stocks Index (GSE-FSI) also appreciated by 0.01% to settle at 2,210.09 points, making it a week-on-week gain of 0.19%. Unfortunately, it led to a month-on-month loss of 0.49 percent, and a year-to-date gain of 2.71 percent.

Moving further, the market activity level dropped as the average volume traded fell 86 percent, and turnover also dropped by 82 percent. Also, the top traded stocks by volume for the day was MTN Ghana with the highest volume of 34,091 traded shares, followed by Produce Buying Company (5,000), CAL Bank (3,450), and SIC Insurance Company (1,700).

The current market capitalization experienced an increase in value moving from GHS 62.8 billion to GHS 63 billion.