Trading on the Ghana Stock Exchange intensified sharply last week, but the heavier activity came as share prices and the value of listed companies moved lower.
The value of shares traded between August 17 and 21 rose 145.3% to GH¢76.91 million, up from GH¢31.35 million the previous week, according to weekly trading data.
The number of shares changing hands also increased by 77.6% to 17.87 million.
Yet despite the surge in trading, the market itself weakened slightly.
The GSE Composite Index, which tracks the overall performance of listed equities, fell 1.12% to 15,136.72 points, while the GSE Financial Stocks Index dropped 2.36% to 7,925.05 points.
Market capitalisation also declined by 0.72% to GH¢286.83 billion.
The combination of higher trading activity and falling market indices suggests that the week was marked more by investor repositioning and selling in some major counters than by a broad rise in share prices.
MTNGH drives trading
Much of the week’s activity was concentrated in MTNGH.
The stock recorded GH¢47.58 million in trades, accounting for about 62% of the entire market’s value traded during the week.
It also recorded the highest volume, with 6.78 million shares changing hands.
GCB was the second most traded stock by value at GH¢14.05 million, followed by TOTAL with GH¢2.11 million, KASA with GH¢1.70 million and JIL with GH¢1.38 million.
The concentration was also visible at the sector level.
The ICT sector generated GH¢48.18 million in value traded, representing 62.6% of total market value, while the Finance sector accounted for another GH¢17.40 million.
Together, the two sectors generated more than 85% of all trading value during the week.
Strong gainers also faced selling pressure
The decline in the overall market came despite several stocks continuing to post large gains for the year.
GCB, for instance, fell 9.20% during the week, closing at GH¢39.00, but remains up 77.27% since the beginning of the year.
GOIL declined 5.42% to GH¢7.50 but is still up 149.17% year-to-date.
EGL suffered the largest weekly decline, falling 26.25% from GH¢10.02 to GH¢7.39, although its year-to-date gain remains above 100%.
Other major decliners included SOGEGH, down 4.44%, BOPP and CAL, both down 2.56%.
The falls in several stocks that have already recorded significant gains this year could indicate that some investors were locking in profits after the market’s strong run.
Smaller stocks make big moves
While the largest stocks drove trading value, some smaller counters recorded the biggest percentage price movements.
DASPHARMA gained 56.79% during the week, rising from GH¢0.81 to GH¢1.27.
IIL climbed 41.30%, DIGICUT rose 38.46% and HORDS gained 26.15%.
IIL’s latest increase takes its year-to-date gain to 1,200%, while HORDS has risen 720% and DASPHARMA 234.21%.
These sharp movements, however, came alongside relatively concentrated trading, meaning the strongest price gains were not necessarily reflected in the broader market indices.
A correction, not a collapse
Despite last week’s decline, the GSE remains substantially higher than it was at the start of the year.
The GSE-CI is up 72.59% year-to-date, while the GSE-FSI has gained 70.53%. Market capitalisation has also increased 66.72% since the beginning of the year.
The latest figures therefore show a market that is still sitting on substantial gains, but where investors appear to be becoming more selective after the strong rally recorded earlier in the year.
The key development last week was not simply that stocks fell.
It was that investors traded significantly more while the overall value of the market declined, a sign of a market undergoing considerable rotation as investors reassess where to place their money.
