Guinness Ghana Limited accounted for 62.76 percent of the overall traded volume to close the week. 

Market capitalisation dropped 0.46 per cent to GH¢58.55 billion as a result of uncertainties concerning rising non-performing loans (NPLs) in the financial sector.  

Price movement

Fourteen equities recorded price movement last week, with eight advancers and six decliners. 

Benso Oil Palm Plantation Ltd added 7 pesewas to close at GH¢3.29 per share. 

Fan Milk Ghana Ltd and Standard Chartered Bank Ltd gained 3 pesewas each to trade at GH¢11.35 and GH¢15.60 per share respectively. Aluworks and Ghana Oil Company closed the week adding 2 pesewas each to close at 16 pesewas and GH¢1.33 per share respectively. 

Other gainers on the market included CAL Bank Ltd, Enterprise Ghana Ltd and SIC Ltd. 

On the downside of the market, Ecobank Ghana Ltd shed 15 pesewas to trade at GH¢7.34 per share. Guinness Ghana Ltd and Societe General Ghana Ltd trimmed 2 pesewas each to close at GH¢1.50 and 74 pesewas per share respectively. 

Ecobank Transnational Inc., HFC Bank Ltd and Mechanical Lloyd trimmed a pesewa apiece to conclude the list of decliners for the week.

FX market 

The cedi was down against currencies of its major trading partners. 

The U.S dollar, which was down following productivity drop in the first quarter, managed to steady against major currencies after reports of improvement in U.S trade deficit in March. 

The local currency dropped in value by 0.16 per cent to exchange at GH¢4.1934 per dollar, pushing its year-to-date performance to negative 0.16 per cent. 

In spite of weak Eurozone retail sales in March, the 19-bloc currency came in strong on the international forex market. It hit a six-month high, as traders looked beyond the French election for a potential signal from the European Central Bank to reduce its bond buying. 

The monetary value of the cedi decelerated by 1.05 per cent to close at GH¢5.4343 per a Euro, reflecting a year-to-date depreciation of 3.89 percent. 

On the pound, upbeat data from UK’s service sector for April saw the sterling outmuscling the performance of the local currency last week. The cedi thus lost 0.33 per cent to exchange at GH¢5.42 per A pound, extending its year-to-date depreciation to 4.58 per cent. 

Commodities

The commodities market ended mixed, as investors stayed back to explore their options. 

Oil prices fell by 5.39 per cent to trade at $48.94 per barrel after crashing to a five-month low in the trading week on the back of global oversupply.

However, energy-related prices are expected to rebound, following an assurance from Saudi Arabia of Russia’s intention to support OPEC in extending supply cuts to reduce a persistent glut on the market.   

The performance of gold on the international market was subdued after economic data from the US economy showed improvement in U.S trade deficit and employment over the period of March and April respectively. 

The bullion nudged lower, by 3.08 per cent to close at us$1,229.24 per ounce. 

Cocoa rebounded to close the week, gaining 1.66 per cent to trade at $1,863.50 per tonnes. 

The price of the soft-crop was further stabilised following increased expectations for a modest increase in demand. 

Price of coffee was marginally higher, up by 2.95 per cent. 

The soft crop closed at US$1.3492 per ton. The soft-crop is expected to remain stable as the market recovers from dropping long positions in sugar trading.

Securities auction

Friday’s auction ended with further moderation in the yields on the Government of Ghana treasury securities. Yields on the 91-Day T/Bill and the 182-Day T/Bill declined by 63 basis points (bps) and 46 bps to settle at 14.21 per cent and 15.92 per cent respectively. 

The yield on the 2-year fixed note also fell by 105 bps to 19.95 percent.  

At the end of the auction, the Government accepted GH¢1.54 billion out of the GH¢1.8 billion bids tendered. 

The 91-Day and 182-Day T/Bills constituted 55.92 per cent of the overall accepted bids. 

The government expects to raise GH¢994.00 million in 91-Day and 182-Day treasury securities, and GH¢300 million from the 1-year fixed note at the next auction slated for 12th May 2017. The term structure of the various treasury securities is presented below: 

The yield curve assumed a regular trend with exception to the region covered by the five-year bond. As yields continue to moderate especially on the short-to-medium term securities, we hope to see a restoration to a regular pattern in the near weeks and boost the private sector investment.