- Banking And Energy Stocks Advance as GSE Opens Week on Firmer Footing
Trading activity on the Ghana Stock Exchange increased sharply on Monday, with total turnover rising to GH¢17.65mn as a large concentration of transactions in MTN Ghana lifted both market volume and value.
A total of 3.45mn shares changed hands during the October 5 session, compared with 1.03m shares valued at GH¢4.40m in the preceding session on October 2.
This represented a 233.6% increase in trading volume and a 300.6% rise in market value.
Market breadth also improved, with seven equities recording gains against two decliners. Most listed shares, however, closed unchanged, reflecting the persistent liquidity concentration within a relatively small number of counters.
MTN Ghana dominated the market with 2.38m shares traded at a value of GH¢15.49m. The telecommunications company closed unchanged at GH¢6.50.
Its transactions represented 69.1% of total market volume and approximately 87.8% of traded value, meaning the headline increase in turnover was driven overwhelmingly by one stock.
Without MTN Ghana, the market would have recorded turnover of about GH¢2.15m.
GCB Bank gained GH¢0.60, or 1.5%, to close at GH¢40.60. A total of 7,135 shares changed hands at a value of GH¢287,071.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated advanced 3.75% from GH¢1.60 to GH¢1.66 on 112,638 shares valued at GH¢186,788.
CalBank added one pesewa to close at GH¢0.73, representing a 1.39% gain. It recorded 240,838 shares in turnover, making it one of the session’s more actively traded financial counters.
The gains in GCB, ETI and CalBank provided support to the financial segment, although other major banking stocks remained unchanged.
Ecobank Ghana closed flat at GH¢39 despite recording GH¢151,437 in turnover, while Société Générale Ghana ended unchanged at GH¢5.10 after 94,075 shares worth GH¢479,790 changed hands.
Access Bank Ghana remained at GH¢20.67, Agricultural Development Bank closed at GH¢5.30 and Republic Bank Ghana held at GH¢4.00.
The divergent performances suggest that investors were selecting individual banking stocks rather than making a broad sector-wide allocation.
Ghana Oil Company advanced by GH¢0.22, or 3.89%, to close at GH¢5.88.
The counter traded 18,260 shares valued at GH¢106,900. Its closing bid remained at GH¢5.66, while the offer stood at GH¢6.09, indicating a relatively wide gap between buyers and sellers at the end of the session.
Other energy-related stocks were unchanged. TotalEnergies Marketing Ghana remained at GH¢35.32, while Tullow Oil closed at GH¢13.11.
Kasapreko declined by three pesewas to GH¢1.81, representing a 1.63% loss. The brewer recorded 117,077 shares valued at GH¢212,188.
The closing order book showed a bid at GH¢1.84 and an offer at GH¢1.89, both above the reported closing price. This may point to continued investor interest after the trades that established the day’s volume-weighted average price.
Dannex Ayrton Starwin Pharma was the worst-performing stock of the session, falling 8.93% from GH¢1.12 to GH¢1.02.
The pharmaceutical company traded 62,977 shares valued at GH¢64,237.
Its closing bid and offer were quoted at GH¢1.15 and GH¢1.16 respectively, above the closing price, suggesting that the decline may have reflected trades executed earlier at weaker levels rather than a complete disappearance of demand.
Despite the loss, the counter remains substantially above its 2026 low of GH¢0.38, though below its year high of GH¢1.98.
Activity on the Ghana Alternative Market was broadly positive.
Hords advanced 8.33% from GH¢0.72 to GH¢0.78, making it the session’s biggest gainer by percentage terms.
Intravenous Infusions rose 8.16% from GH¢0.49 to GH¢0.53 after 178,043 shares changed hands. The transaction value reached GH¢94,296.
Digicut Production and Advertising gained 5.88% to a new year high of GH¢0.54. It traded 167,185 shares valued at GH¢90,569.
The three GAX gainers collectively improved market breadth, but their contribution to total turnover remained modest compared with MTN Ghana.
Samba Foods closed unchanged at GH¢0.55 after 2,500 shares changed hands, while Meridian-Marshalls recorded no transactions.
Although Monday’s figures show a substantial increase in activity, the market’s underlying liquidity remains uneven.
MTN Ghana alone accounted for nearly nine out of every 10 cedis traded. Several listed companies recorded either no transactions or only minimal activity.
AngloGold Ashanti, Aluworks, Cocoa Processing Company, First Atlantic Bank, Mega African Capital, PBC and Standard Chartered Bank Ghana recorded no ordinary-share trades.
NewGold’s exchange-traded fund also remained quiet, with only eight units traded at GH¢462.38, producing turnover of GH¢3,699.
The session therefore presented two different pictures. Market breadth was positive, with gains spread across banking, energy and GAX counters. But transaction value remained overwhelmingly dependent on MTN Ghana.
The near-term outlook will depend on whether activity broadens beyond the telecommunications counter. Sustained participation in banks, consumer stocks and industrial companies would provide stronger evidence of improving market liquidity than a turnover surge driven predominantly by one large-cap stock.
For now, the market has opened the week with better breadth and significantly stronger turnover but not yet with a broad-based expansion in investor demand.
