STOCK MARKET TRADING UNSHAKEN BY BANKING SECTOR CHALLENGES

The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) on the second week of August trading opened with ten equities experiencing activities in their shares with only one price change.

The GSE-Composite Index thus edged by 0.03% to close at 2,936.7 points.

CAL Bank rose by 0.8% to close at GH¢1.27 per share, to emerge as the only gainer for the session. Volume traded was 38,136 shares, which were valued at GH¢79,151.50.

Meanwhile Nordea Capital Investment Stock Market review of the first week of August indicated that activities turned slightly bullish as investors focused on bottom picking and ignored news of challenges in the banking sector to push the benchmark index northwards.

The GSE-Composite Index thus closed the period 0.1% better than the previous week.

Nordea Capital Stock Expert predicts that market sentiments are likely to dip once again on account of weaker than anticipated impairment losses.

Nordea Capital, therefore, advised investors to refocus on fundamentals to stoke selling pressures amid the turbulent macro environment.

The week under review saw the Banking sector leading the pack as demand continued to build up for GCB Bank and Ecobank Ghana shares, with each gaining 0.6% and 0.5% respectively.

However, the top performer for the week under review was Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, which rose 4.8% on a week-on-week basis to close at GH¢0.22 per share.

Nordea Capital explained that these upward movements are more fundamentally driven and in line with expectations. The banks produced a strong half year of 2018 earnings despite the headwinds in the sector.

The Enterprise Group Limited experienced some margin compressions, arising out of competitive pricing, which could have an impact on the bottom line.

Total Petroleum Ghana Limited edged by 1.5% to close at GH¢4.16 per share largely on account of bottom picking by investors; and Produce Buying Company led the losers for the week, losing by 25% to close at GH¢0.03 per share.

The SIC Insurance dropped by 14.3% to close at GH¢0.30 per share but it has increased its gross premium by 1.1% to GH¢161.9 million for 2017, which translated into a Payment after Tax (PAT) of GH¢23.5 million for year ending 2017, up from GHC11.9 million 2016.

Societe Generale also dipped by 2.4% to close at GH¢1.22 per share despite impressive half year 2018 results, whilst GOIL also slipped by 1.0% to close at GH¢3.95 per share, Guinness Ghana Brewery Limited went down by 0.8 per cent to GH¢2.50 per share and Benso

Oil Palm Plantation shed 0.1% to close at GH¢7.24 per share.

According to the Nordea Capital Stock Market review, both liquidity and turnover trails the previous week’s numbers.

Total Petroleum Ghana Limited shares traded trailed behind the previous week’s performance, as it declined by 24.2% while turnover, however, also dipped by 34%.

The Enterprise Group Limited emerged as the most traded equity in value terms as it accounted for 47.6% of turnover during the week.

The Nordea Income Growth Fund was priced at GHC0.4290 with a year-to-date return of 6.14%. Yields on treasury securities were mixed as the 91-day bill remained unchanged at 13.31% but the 182-day bill however dipped from 13.83% to 13.82%.