The cedi lost grounds to the three major international currencies in the week ending February 24.Despite coming under pressure, the greenback appreciated by 2.88 per cent against the Ghana cedi.
The local currency closed trading at GH¢4.44, representing a year-to-date depreciation of 5.71 per cent.
The Euro, which stood on the defensive in the earlier trading sessions of the week under review, was, however, subdued as improved economic data trickled in.
As a result, the cedi appreciated by 0.95 per cent to trade one euro to GH¢4.7.
Year-to-date depreciation of the cedi settled at 5.88 per cent last Friday.
The British Pound, on the other hand, ended the week’s trading at GH¢5.56 after wrestling between gains and losses as debates on the Brexit resurfaced in the trading week.
The local currency closed trading with 2.18 per cent depreciation and a year-to-date depreciation of 6.9 per cent.
Equity market
On the equity market, the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) stood bullish in the week under review, following improvements in investor sentiments after the President’s State of the Nation Address reaffirmed commitments at providing an enabling environment to foster business activities.
As a result, four out of five trading sessions witnessed gains.
The GSE-Composite Index, thus rose by 2.63 per cent to 1,857.10 points.
The GSE-Financial Stock Index also edged up by 3.47 per cent to settle at 1,753.94 points.
Year-to-date return of the indices stood at 9.95 per cent for the GSE-Composite Index and 13.49 per cent for the GSE-Financial Stock Index.
Trading
At the close of trading, 23 equities recorded trades, with a total volume of 921,207 shares.
The total trade for the week was valued at GH¢4.55 million.
Liquidity on the bourse was mainly driven by UT Bank, CAL Bank and Ecobank Transnational Inc. as they jointly accounted for 80.27 per cent of the total traded volume.
Market capitalisation moved up from GH¢52,207.86 to GH¢52,310.92, representing a 0.20 per cent increment.
Ten price movers, consisting of seven advancers and three laggards, were observed on the bourse in the week under review.
SCB went up by GH¢1.07 to trade at GH¢14.46 per share.
GCB Bank added 48 pesewas to close at GH¢4.88 per share.
Fan Milk Ltd gained 20 pesewas to trade at GH¢11.30 per share. Benso Oil Palm Plantation increased its share price by 29 pesewas to trade at GH¢2.50 per share. Other advancers were Ecobank Ghana Ltd, Societe Generale Ghana Ltd and the Trust Bank Gambia Ltd.
On the downside of the market, Total Petroleum Ltd shed four pesewas to trade at GH¢2.29 per share.
Ecobank Transnational Inc. and Ghana Oil Company Ltd also trimmed a pesewa each to close at GH¢7.69 and 85 pesewas per share respectively.
Treasury bills
Government of Ghana treasury securities continued to witness rate adjustments, especially on the short-dated treasuries in light of the government’s measure at restoring the country’s debt portfolio and mitigating against the fall of the local currency.
Despite its macro-economic advantages, investors’ appetite for treasury securities has started dampening due to the lower rates as they seek other profitable ventures to place their funds.
Last Friday’s auction results saw two basis points reduction of the 91-Day as it settled at 15.94 per cent.
The 182-Day, on the other hand, increased by two basis points to 16.99 per cent.
Rates on the other treasury notes, however, remained unchanged due to the absence in trading in those instruments.
Source: Daily Graphic
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