The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) has reached a new milestone, with its main market measure, the GSE Composite Index, closing at 7,323.35 points on Thursday, August 7, 2025. That’s 161 points higher than the day before and nearly 50% higher than at the start of the year. In simple terms, the overall value of listed companies has been climbing steadily this year and hit a fresh record this week.
What’s striking is that this surge came even though fewer shares were being bought and sold. On Thursday, investors traded 662,180 shares worth GHS 2.54 million, far less than Monday’s busy session when 5.45 million shares changed hands, worth GHS 19.07 million. Yet the total market value (market capitalization) still rose to GHS 149.91 billion, adding about GHS 3.64 billion since Monday.
This is what traders call “price momentum”, when share prices rise sharply, pushing the market higher, even if fewer people are actually trading. In this case, the push came from a few influential companies. Telecom giant Scancom PLC (MTN Ghana) led the way, jumping 15 pesewas to close at GHS 3.87. With its large size and influence on the market, MTN’s gain alone added significant weight to the GSE’s overall rise.
Two other companies also saw modest price increases: Cal Bank PLC rose by 1 pesewa to GHS 0.53, and Ghana Oil Company PLC (GOIL) also climbed 1 pesewa to GHS 2.18. These gains may seem small in absolute terms, but because of the size and market position of these firms, they helped lift the market’s performance.
Over the four days from Monday to Thursday, the GSE Composite Index moved from 7,005.69 points to 7,323.35 points, a 4.54% jump in just one week. While the financial sector index barely changed, it’s clear that non-financial companies, especially in telecoms and energy, are powering this rally.
For the average observer, the takeaway is simple: even with fewer trades happening, the prices of key shares are climbing, and when big players like MTN move up, the entire market feels the lift.
