- GSE Volume Surges Past 8.4m Shares as MTN Ghana Dominates Session
Trading activity on the Ghana Stock Exchange rose sharply on Tuesday, September 29, after heavy transactions in MTN Ghana lifted total market turnover to GH¢50.97m.
A total of 8.46m shares changed hands during the 7,306th trading session, compared with 1.17mn shares valued at GH¢5.13m in the previous session.
This represented a 622 per cent increase in trading volume and an almost tenfold rise in value. But the surge was overwhelmingly concentrated in a single stock.
MTN Ghana accounted for 7.48m shares and GH¢48.71m in turnover, equivalent to 88.4 per cent of total market volume and 95.6 per cent of the value traded.
The telecommunications company’s share price nevertheless declined by GH¢0.03, or 0.46 per cent, to close at GH¢6.51.
The combination of high turnover and a modest price decline suggests that the transaction was likely driven by a substantial institutional repositioning rather than broad buying pressure. It also illustrates the difference between market activity and market breadth: turnover can rise dramatically even when most listed securities remain thinly traded.
Excluding MTN Ghana, the rest of the market generated just GH¢2.26m in turnover.
Six stocks gained during the session, while four declined and the majority closed unchanged.
Enterprise Group recorded the largest gain on the main market, rising by GH¢0.35, or 5 per cent, to GH¢7.35. Cocoa Processing Company advanced by GH¢0.02, representing a 7.7 per cent increase, to close at GH¢0.28.
CalBank gained GH¢0.01 to GH¢0.71, while SIC Insurance rose by GH¢0.04 to GH¢5.04.
On the Ghana Alternative Market, Hords advanced by GH¢0.06, or 9.1 per cent, to GH¢0.72. Digicut Production and Advertising gained GH¢0.02 to close at GH¢0.47, representing a 4.4 per cent increase.
The gains point to pockets of demand among smaller and lower-priced equities, although turnover in several of these counters remained modest.
Digicut recorded the highest volume on the alternative market, with 201,180 shares valued at GH¢94,118. Intravenous Infusions followed with 85,216 shares worth GH¢44,786, while Hords traded 36,603 shares valued at GH¢26,228.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated fell by GH¢0.04, or 2.4 per cent, to GH¢1.62 after 254,553 shares changed hands. The transaction generated GH¢415,296 in turnover, making ETI the second-most actively traded stock by volume after MTN Ghana.
Dannex Ayrton Starwin declined by GH¢0.03 to GH¢1.16, while Clydestone slipped by GH¢0.01 to GH¢4.01.
The declines were offset partly by gains in Enterprise Group, Cocoa Processing Company, CalBank and SIC Insurance. However, without official index figures for the session, the overall effect on the benchmark indices cannot be determined from price movements alone.
Outside MTN Ghana, GCB Bank recorded the highest trading value, with 14,500 shares generating GH¢580,736. The stock closed unchanged at GH¢40.04.
ETI followed with GH¢415,296 in turnover, while Standard Chartered Bank Ghana recorded transactions valued at GH¢250,066. Its shares were unchanged at GH¢69.89.
CalBank traded 172,500 shares worth GH¢121,519, while Ecobank Ghana recorded turnover of GH¢16,375.
Despite the transactions, price movements among the larger banking stocks remained limited. GCB Bank, Ecobank Ghana, Standard Chartered Bank Ghana, Republic Bank Ghana, Access Bank Ghana and First Atlantic Bank all closed unchanged.
This suggests that investor interest in the sector was largely transaction-driven and had not yet developed into broad price momentum.
Kasapreko recorded 97,032 shares traded at a value of GH¢175,402 and closed unchanged at GH¢1.81. The locally listed beverage producer remained one of the more actively traded non-financial stocks.
The September 29 session delivered a significant improvement in headline liquidity, but it also exposed the continuing concentration of activity on the GSE.
A market in which one company accounts for more than 95 per cent of turnover remains vulnerable to sharp fluctuations in daily activity. Once the exceptional MTN Ghana transaction is removed, trading across the rest of the exchange appears considerably thinner.
Several listed companies recorded no trades, including Agricultural Development Bank, AngloGold Ashanti, Aluworks, Camelot Ghana and PBC. Other counters traded only a few hundred or a few thousand shares.
The NewGold exchange-traded fund recorded just four units valued at GH¢1,849, while the preference-share and depositary-share segments recorded no activity.
For the GSE, the challenge is not simply to produce occasional sessions with large turnover. It is to encourage consistent participation across a wider range of companies and sectors.
That will require stronger institutional demand, more research coverage, a larger domestic retail investor base and sufficient free float to support regular transactions.
Tuesday’s session was undoubtedly active. But with almost every GH¢20 of turnover out of GH¢21 tied to MTN Ghana, it was not yet broadly liquid.
