STOCK MARKET REVIEW

The Ghana Stock Exchange weakened for the week on the back of price declines   by 3 counters. The GSE Composite Index (GSE CI) lost  49.20 points (-1.79%) to close at 2,693.65 points, reflecting year-to-date (YTD) loss of 3.43%. The GSE Financial Stocks Index (GSE FI) however, gained 39.22 points (+1.80%) to close at 2,214.18 points, reflecting year-to-date (YTD) gain of 2.90%.

Market capitalization declined marginally by 0.03% to close the week at GH¢64,011.45 million, from GH¢64,029.79 million at the close of the previous week. This reflects YTD decrease of 0.75%.

Trading activity recorded a total of 3,626,127 shares valued at GH¢3,602,157 changing hands, compared with 83,028,224 shares, valued at GH¢88,889,722.36 in the preceding week.

MTN dominated both volume and value of trades for the week, accounting for 57.84% and 58.50% of volume and value of shares traded respectively .  

The market ended the week with 3 advancers and 3 decliners as indicated on the table below.

CURRENCY MARKET

The Cedi recorded no change against the USD for the week. It remained flat at GH¢7.1120/$  reflecting w/w and YTD depreciations of 0.00% and 15.55% respectively. This compares with YTD appreciation of 0.54% a year ago.        

The Cedi  however advanced against the GBP for the week. It traded at GH¢9.2663/£, compared with GH¢9.3278/£ at week open, reflecting w/w appreciation and YTD depreciation of 0.66%  and 12.29% respectively. This compares with YTD depreciation of 0.10% a year ago.

The Cedi also strengthened against  the Euro for the week. It traded at GH¢7.7338/€, compared with GH¢7.8217/€ at week open, reflecting w/w appreciation  and YTD depreciation of 1.14% and 11.71% respectively. This compares with YTD appreciation of 3.74% a year ago.   

The Cedi again appreciated against the Canadian Dollar for the week. It opened at GH¢5.7019/C$ but closed at GH¢5.6526/C$, reflecting w/w appreciation and YTD depreciation of 0.87% and 16.12% respectively. This compares with YTD depreciation of 0.75% a year ago.

Source: Bank of Ghana

GOVERNMENT SECURITIES MARKET

Government raised a sum of GH¢1,155.11 million for the week across the 91-Day,  182-Day , 364 Day Treasury bills as well as the 3 Year Bond. This compared with GH¢463.65  million raised in the previous week.

The 91-Day Bill settled at  15.74% p.a., from  14.85% p.a. last week whilst the 182-Day Bill settled at 15.93% p.a., from 15.46% p.a. last week. The 364-Day Treasury Bill on the other hand settled at 18.28% p.a., from 17.11% p.a. recorded previously.  The 3-Year  Bond meanwhile settled at 20.85% p.a., up from 20.50% previously.

The table and graph below highlight primary market yields at close of the week.

Source: Bank of Ghana

COMMODITY MARKET

Crude Oil prices settled lower on Friday after consuming countries agreed to release a total of 240 million barrels of oil from emergency stocks. Brent futures traded at US$102.78 a barrel on Friday, compared to US$107.53 at week open. This reflects w/w loss and YTD gain of 4.42% and 34.14% respectively.

Gold prices rose  as concerns over rising costs and the Ukraine crisis bolstered its appeal as an inflation hedge and a safe haven, but the U.S. Federal Reserve's aggressive policy stance limited gains. Gold settled at US$1,945.60 from US$1,929.20 last week, reflecting w/w and YTD  appreciations of 0.85% and 6.40% respectively.

Prices of Cocoa advanced for the week. The commodity traded at US$2,620.00 per tonne on Friday, from US$2,562.00 last week, reflecting  w/w and YTD appreciations of 2.26% and 3.97% respectively.

International Commodity Prices

 Source: www.investing.com

BUSINESS TERM OF THE WEEK

Foreign Exchange Reserves:  Foreign exchange reserves are assets held on reserve by a central bank in foreign currencies. These reserves are used to back liabilities and influence monetary policy. It includes any foreign money held by a central bank, such as the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank.

Source: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/foreign-exchange-reserves.asp

ABOUT CIDAN

CIDAN Investments Limited is an investment and fund management company licensed by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) and the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA).

Website: www.cidaninvestments.com

DisclaimerThe contents of this report have been prepared to provide you with general information only. Information provided on and available from this report does not constitute any investment recommendation.

The information contained herein has been obtained from sources that we believe to be reliable, but its accuracy and completeness are not guaranteed.