Five equities registered gains at the close of business at the Accra bourse on Wednesday but the stock market was unable to maintain its northward climb as price declines in four equities weighed on the indices at the close of the mid-week session.
Ecobank Ghana and Stanchart led movers as they gained two pesewas each to GH?7.10 and GH?18.05 respectively. Ghana Commercial Bank and SIC Insurance also advanced with each inching up a pesewa to GH?5.39 and 41GHp respectively. CAL Bank also clawed back the pesewa it shed yesterday to end the day at 87GHp.
On the other hand, Tullow Ghana shed GH?2.79 to GH?32.00. Fan Milk and UT Bank trimmed 13GHp and 5GHp to GH?6.83 and 35GHp respectively while Societe Generale shaved 3GHp to 86GHp.
The benchmark Composite Index lost 7.26 points to 2,354.16, representing a change of 9.74% this year. The Financial Index also declined by 3.7 points to 2,103.79. The year to date return on the Financial Index stands at 17.75%.
In spite of the indices declining, volume and value of shares traded improved significantly. In all, sixteen equities had their shares being traded in with a total volume of 1.18M being recorded. UT Bank accounted for 54.4% of the total volume. Turnover also rose to GH?1.67M with Fan Milk enjoying the lion?s share of 38.7%.
Outlook
The indices are expected to return to winning ways tomorrow as demand for blue chip companies like Ghana Commercial Bank, Stanchart and Ecobank Ghana are ?likely to drive the recovery. Selling pressure and the search for bargain deals in Total Petroleum, Fan Milk andSociete Generale may push their prices lower.
Trading activity is also expected to improve noticeably in the next session.
On the currency market, the Cedi closed the day on a strong note reversing yesterday?s loss against the Euro, Swiss Franc, the Pound and the South African Rand. It however lost grounds to the Dollar.
The decision by U.K policy makers to keep interest rates on hold failed to give the Pound an edge against the Cedi. The Ghanaian currency climbed 0.13% against the Sterling with rates by bank traders averaging GH?5.11.
The acceleration of South Africa?s inflation and a narrowedcurrent-account deficit gave the Cedi a boost. The local currency appreciated by 0.83% against the Rand and traded at a mid rate of GH?0.28.
Against the Euro and the Swiss Franc the local currency gained 0.20% and 0.29% to close at GH?4.08 and GH?3.34 respectively.
The Cedi however closed lower against the Dollar as the greenback continued to show resilience though the U.S government reported a widening current-account deficit to in the first quarter.The Cedi was down 0.02% against the green back to close at GH?3.01.
Source Merban Stockbrokers Ltd
