- GSE Turnover Cools After GCB Surge, but November 11 Trading Holds Near Underlying Levels
The Ghana Stock Exchange recorded GH¢3.01 million in total value traded on Wednesday, November 11, as 570,598 shares changed hands.
Turnover was 94.46% below the GH¢54.30 million recorded in the previous session, but that headline comparison is heavily skewed by an unusually large GCB Bank trade on November 10.
GCB alone accounted for GH¢51.24 million of the previous session’s value traded about 94.37% of the total. Excluding that counter, the November 10 turnover was approximately GH¢3.06 million, only around 1.62% above Wednesday’s GH¢3.01 million.
The latest session therefore looks less like a collapse in market value than a return to activity close to the previous day’s underlying level after one stock dominated turnover.
The official list does not identify the reason for GCB’s earlier concentration.
Share volume fell more sharply: from 2.67 million on November 10 to 570,598 on November 11, a decline of 78.64%.
That difference indicates fewer shares changed hands, even as the adjusted value comparison suggests the cash traded across the market remained broadly similar.
The distinction matters: turnover can swing dramatically when one large trade occurs, while the number of shares traded offers a separate measure of market activity.
GCB remained the largest counter by value on Wednesday, with 30,442 shares traded for GH¢1.22 million. Scancom, trading as MTNGH, followed with 163,430 shares valued at GH¢1.08 million. Together the two counters contributed about GH¢2.30 million, or 76.33% of total market value. GCB’s closing VWAP eased by GH¢0.04 to GH¢39.96, while MTNGH rose by GH¢0.06 to GH¢6.61.
The concentration in those two counters shows how a relatively small number of actively traded shares can shape the daily market narrative.
Their combined value was more than three-quarters of the total, even though MTNGH traded over five times as many shares as GCB.
This reflects the difference between volume and value: a share’s price, as well as the number traded, determines its contribution to turnover.
Price movements among ordinary shares were mixed, with three counters advancing and four declining. Twenty-five closed unchanged from their previous VWAP.
The narrow spread between gainers and losers points to selective rather than broad-based price movement.
SIC Insurance recorded the largest price increase among ordinary shares, rising GH¢0.45, or 9.96%, to GH¢4.97. It traded 11,388 shares worth GH¢56,590.71.
Cocoa Processing Company also advanced, gaining GH¢0.05, or 8.62%, to GH¢0.63 on 4,000 shares valued at GH¢2,520. MTNGH’s 0.92% increase was smaller in percentage terms but accompanied by the session’s second-highest turnover.
KASAPREKO was the steepest ordinary-share decliner. Its closing VWAP fell by GH¢0.12, or 6.86%, to GH¢1.63, with 159,039 shares traded for GH¢258,686.44.
Societe Generale Ghana fell GH¢0.03 to GH¢4.60; Ecobank Transnational Incorporated lost GH¢0.01 to GH¢1.40; and GCB slipped GH¢0.04.
The gain in SIC stands out against the decline in KASAPREKO, but neither should be read in isolation as a definitive change in investor sentiment.
The session’s trades show where buying and selling met; they do not, on their own, explain why investors acted or establish whether the prices will persist.
The day’s relatively narrow breadth and concentration in a few counters make that distinction particularly important.
Trading on the Ghana Alternative Market was modest. Intravenous Infusions fell GH¢0.01 to GH¢0.50, while Digicut Production & Advertising rose GH¢0.03 to GH¢0.36. Hords held at GH¢0.74.
Together, the three traded GAX shares recorded 36,600 shares valued at GH¢17,616.11. The NewGold exchange-traded fund recorded two shares worth GH¢924.70 and closed slightly lower at GH¢462.35.
The session offers a useful reminder about interpreting daily market totals. The sharp fall in turnover from November 10 could suggest a sudden withdrawal of trading interest.
But GCB’s outsized contribution the day before changes the comparison substantially. Once it is removed, the value traded on the two days was close, although share volume still declined materially.
The composition of Wednesday’s trading is also revealing. GCB and MTNGH supplied most of the value, while KASAPREKO, CAL Bank and other counters contributed meaningful volumes at much lower values.
CAL traded 100,150 shares for GH¢74,763.83 without a price change. That combination high volume but modest value shows why counting shares alone can overstate the importance of lower-priced counters in a turnover comparison.
For the market to show deeper liquidity, trading needs to be sustained across more listed companies, not concentrated in isolated large transactions.
Wednesday’s 25 unchanged ordinary shares may reflect limited price movement, but also the reality that many counters recorded little or no trading.
A stable closing price in an inactive share is not necessarily the same as a price tested by a broad market of buyers and sellers.
The official list does not provide benchmark-index movements, so the session’s data cannot establish whether the GSE Composite Index or financial stocks index rose or fell. Nor does one day’s price action establish a wider trend.
What it does show is that turnover was near the previous session’s level once GCB’s large contribution is stripped out, while trading volume and market breadth remained subdued.
That is a more nuanced reading of Wednesday’s market: a dramatic headline decline in turnover, a much smaller change in underlying value traded, and continued concentration in a handful of active counters.
The next sessions will show whether the GSE can broaden that activity or whether liquidity remains dependent on a few large trades.
