- Calbank And MTN Ghana Account for Nine in Every 10 Shares Traded On GSE
Trading activity on the Ghana Stock Exchange rose sharply on October 21, but the increase in the number of shares changing hands did not translate into stronger market value, exposing the growing influence of low-priced, highly traded counters on headline turnover.
The exchange recorded total volume of 2,360,638 shares, up 44.30 per cent from the 1,635,948 shares traded on October 20. Total value, however, fell 36.53 per cent to GH¢5.34 million from GH¢8.41 million in the preceding session.
The divergence was largely explained by a dramatic shift in activity from MTN Ghana, a higher-priced stock, to CalBank, which closed unchanged at GH¢0.73. CalBank accounted for 1,582,036 shares, equivalent to 67.02 per cent of total market volume, but contributed only GH¢1.15 million, or 21.55 per cent of value traded.
MTN Ghana remained the dominant counter by value. The telecommunications company recorded 546,842 shares worth GH¢3.56 million, representing 23.16 per cent of volume and 66.74 per cent of total turnover. Together, CalBank and MTN Ghana generated just over 90 per cent of all shares traded and about 88 per cent of market value.
That concentration means the apparent improvement in activity was considerably narrower than the total-volume figure suggests. The session did not reflect a broad increase in investor participation across the market. It was primarily a two-stock event, with most other listed companies attracting modest transactions or no trades.
CalBank’s volume surged from 102,523 shares on October 20 to more than 1.58 million shares, an increase of about 1,443 per cent. Its traded value rose from GH¢74,260 to GH¢1.15 million. Yet the stock’s closing price remained unchanged at GH¢0.73, suggesting that the large transaction was absorbed without producing upward price momentum.
This may indicate a negotiated or block-style transfer, strong matching between buyers and sellers, or sufficient supply around the prevailing market price. Whatever the underlying motivation, the result highlights the difference between liquidity and appreciation: a stock can record substantial turnover without signalling that investors are prepared to revalue it higher.
MTN Ghana moved in the opposite direction. Its volume declined 49.63 per cent from 1,085,737 shares, while traded value dropped from GH¢7.08 million to GH¢3.56 million. The stock also eased by GH¢0.01 to GH¢6.51, representing a marginal decline of 0.15 per cent.
Although the price movement was small, MTN Ghana’s weight in trading value means even limited pressure on the counter can shape the tone of the entire session. Its closing bid of GH¢6.50 and offer of GH¢6.57 left a seven-pesewa spread, indicating that buyers and sellers remained close but had not fully converged at the closing bell.
Market breadth was negative. Five equities closed lower, while only two advanced. On the main market, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Kasapreko and MTN Ghana declined, while SIC Insurance and Société Générale Ghana gained. Intravenous Infusions and Digicut Production and Advertising also fell on the Ghana Alternative Market.
Kasapreko recorded the largest absolute decline among the actively traded main-market stocks, losing GH¢0.06 to close at GH¢1.82. That represented a 3.19 per cent fall from GH¢1.88. A total of 82,561 Kasapreko shares changed hands for GH¢150,311, making the brewer one of the more active counters outside CalBank and MTN Ghana.
The decline extended the stock’s recent uneven performance and showed that trading interest does not necessarily provide price support. Its closing bid of GH¢1.81 stood below the GH¢1.92 offer, leaving a relatively wide spread that may constrain near-term transactions unless either buyers improve their bids or sellers lower expectations.
ETI declined GH¢0.03, or 1.96 per cent, to GH¢1.50 on volume of 43,258 shares valued at GH¢65,464. The counter ended with a bid of GH¢1.47 and an offer of GH¢1.53, suggesting continued price negotiation around a stock that has experienced repeated fluctuations during recent sessions.
SIC Insurance provided the strongest gain on the main market, advancing GH¢0.05, or 1.02 per cent, to GH¢4.94. The insurer traded 17,198 shares worth GH¢84,930. However, its closing bid of GH¢4.80 remained below the last traded price, while the best offer stood at GH¢5.00. This implies that sustaining the advance may require renewed buying interest above the available bid.
Société Générale Ghana added GH¢0.01 to close at GH¢5.07, a gain of about 0.20 per cent. Trading reached 8,590 shares valued at GH¢43,555. Its narrow closing spread—GH¢5.06 bid against GH¢5.08 offer suggested a more balanced market than was visible in several other counters.
The Ghana Alternative Market weakened at the margins. Intravenous Infusions fell GH¢0.01 to GH¢0.58 on 25,412 shares, while Digicut declined GH¢0.03 to GH¢0.44 on 38,404 shares. Digicut’s 6.38 per cent loss was the steepest percentage decline of the session, although its relatively small market size limits its influence on the wider exchange.
Ordinary shares generated 2,295,062 units valued at GH¢5.30 million, accounting for nearly all market activity. NewGold recorded just one unit valued at GH¢462.37, while AngloGold Ashanti Depositary Shares and Standard Chartered preference shares did not trade.
The absence of meaningful activity in NewGold is noteworthy because it suggests that the session’s rise in equity volume was not accompanied by increased demand for the gold-backed exchange-traded fund. Investors instead concentrated on individual corporate counters, particularly financial and telecommunications stocks.
Liquidity beyond the leading names remained thin. Access Bank Ghana, Agricultural Development Bank, AngloGold Ashanti, Aluworks, Asante Gold, Camelot, Cocoa Processing Company, First Atlantic Bank, Mega African Capital and PBC recorded no transactions. Several other stocks traded only a handful of shares.
This uneven distribution remains one of the GSE’s structural challenges. Headline turnover can change sharply when a single institutional order enters or leaves the market, making daily activity appear stronger or weaker than the underlying breadth of investor engagement. A liquid market requires not only large transactions, but frequent two-way trading across a wider range of companies.
October 21 therefore presented two different pictures. The first was encouraging: more than 2.36 million shares changed hands, demonstrating that sizeable transactions can be executed. The second was more cautious: trading value contracted, decliners outnumbered gainers and liquidity was overwhelmingly concentrated in two securities.
For investors, the next session will show whether CalBank’s exceptional volume represents the beginning of sustained accumulation or a one-off transfer. Attention will also remain on MTN Ghana, whose liquidity and market prominence make it an important barometer of broader sentiment, and on Kasapreko and ETI, where closing spreads point to unresolved price pressure.
The wider outlook will depend on whether buying interest spreads beyond a small group of counters. Sustained market strength would require improving breadth, firmer bids and greater participation in companies that currently trade infrequently. Without that expansion, large daily volumes may continue to conceal a market in which liquidity remains deep in only a few places and shallow almost everywhere else.
