- Four Gainers, Seven Decliners as Selective Selling Weighs On GSE
The Ghana Stock Exchange recorded a sharp slowdown in trading on Wednesday, with turnover falling by almost three-quarters from the previous session as the exceptional activity in Ecobank Transnational Inc. and GCB Bank shares subsided.
Investors traded 2.63 million shares worth GH¢11.04 million, compared with 12.13 million shares valued at GH¢42.33 million on Tuesday. That represents a 73.91% decline in value and a 78.35% drop in volume.
The retreat followed a session in which Ecobank Transnational Inc. (ETI) and GCB Bank together accounted for about GH¢36.70 million of turnover.
ETI recorded GH¢10.67 million in trades, while GCB generated GH¢26.02 million. Combined, the two counters represented roughly 86.70% of Tuesday’s market value.
Neither repeated that scale of activity on Wednesday. ETI traded 34,290 shares worth GH¢48,140, while GCB recorded 8,474 shares valued at GH¢355,908.
The change illustrates how a handful of large transactions can lift daily market totals and how quickly turnover can retreat when that activity is not sustained.
Trading nevertheless remained above Monday’s level. Turnover rose from GH¢2.95 million on November 2 to GH¢11.04 million on Wednesday, while volume increased from 503,067 to 2.63 million shares.
The latest session therefore looks less like a return to Monday’s quieter market and more like a correction from Tuesday’s unusually concentrated activity.
MTN Ghana remained the main centre of trading. Scancom PLC, which trades as MTNGH, recorded 1.39 million shares worth GH¢9.21 million. That represented approximately 83.36% of Wednesday’s total market value and more than half of all shares traded.
Despite its heavy turnover, MTNGH closed lower. Its volume-weighted average price fell by GH¢0.02, or 0.30%, to GH¢6.60. The closing bid was GH¢6.53, while the offer stood at GH¢6.70, showing a gap between the prices buyers and sellers were prepared to accept at the close.
CalBank was the next most actively traded counter by volume, with 710,129 shares changing hands for GH¢514,936. Its price slipped by one pesewa, or 1.35%, to GH¢0.73. The session’s combination of high volume and a small price decline suggests substantial activity in the stock, though the daily list alone does not establish whether that activity reflected sustained buying or selling pressure.
GCB shares also edged down, losing GH¢0.01 to GH¢42.00. Société Générale Ghana gained GH¢0.02 to GH¢4.65, with trades worth GH¢374,915. Kasapreko was active too: 98,080 shares traded for GH¢177,371, while the price held at GH¢1.81.
Across the market, Wednesday’s price changes tilted towards decliners. Four counters with recorded price movements advanced, while seven fell. On the main board, Cocoa Processing Company rose by GH¢0.03 to GH¢0.41, a gain of 7.89%.
Dannex Ayrton Starwin gained GH¢0.02 to GH¢0.95, while Société Générale Ghana also closed higher.
The declines included SIC Insurance, which fell by GH¢0.17, or 3.50%, to GH¢4.69. ETI lost GH¢0.04 to GH¢1.40, a 2.78% decline, while MTNGH’s two-pesewa fall was less severe in percentage terms. CalBank and GCB also closed lower.
On the Ghana Alternative Market, Meridian Marshalls Holding Company rose by one pesewa to GH¢0.16. Intravenous Infusions fell by GH¢0.02 to GH¢0.53, and Digicut Production & Advertising lost GH¢0.04 to GH¢0.33.
Digicut’s decline of 10.81% was the steepest percentage fall among the counters with recorded price changes, although its share price is low in absolute terms.
The session’s concentration in MTNGH raises a broader question about the depth of demand across the market. More than four-fifths of total value was generated by one stock, while most listed counters either recorded no trades or relatively modest activity. That concentration can make headline turnover a less reliable measure of broad investor participation.
Wednesday’s figures also show why daily comparisons need context. Tuesday’s turnover was unusually high because of major activity in ETI and GCB; Wednesday’s lower total does not, by itself, demonstrate a broad withdrawal of investors.
At the same time, the small number of counters attracting large trades points to the continuing challenge of building deeper and more balanced liquidity across the exchange.
The official list reports individual share prices and trading activity but does not provide the GSE Composite Index or Financial Stocks Index for the session. It is therefore not possible from these figures alone to determine whether the market’s benchmark indices rose or fell on Wednesday.
What the data do show is a pullback in turnover, heavy concentration in MTNGH and a greater number of declining than advancing share prices.
For the next session, the key signals will be whether trading broadens beyond MTNGH and whether activity in ETI and GCB returns at a more typical scale.
A market with a wider base of active counters would offer a stronger indication of investor participation than a high turnover figure driven by a small number of large trades.
