Risk takers give indices firm grounding
The benchmark Composite Index (CI) rode on the strength of the advancers to close the week up by 0.6 points to 2,223.13. The return on the CI remained positive with a year to date gain of 3.63 per cent.
The Financial Stocks Index (FSI) was, however, weighed down by declines in two equities. It thus shed 1.08 points to end the week at 2,127.26 pints. This brought its year-to-date return to 19.07 per cent.
What moved?
PBC Limited led movers last week, bagging eight per cent (1GHp) to close at 13GHp. SIC Insurance was also in demand, climbing 7.32 per cent (3GHp) to 44GHp.
PZ Cussons and CAL Bank followed with gains of 2.6 per cent and 1.06 per cent to 40GHp and 95GHp while Benso Oil Palm edged up by 0.81 per cent to ¢3.75. Standard Chartered completed the list adding 0.11 per cent to GH¢18.29.
SCB’s Preference Shares also gained 5.45 per cent during the week following an announcement of the payment of a dividend of GH¢0.0758 per preference share in respect of the period September 30, 2014 to March 30, 2015.
On the other hand, UT Bank and Societe Generale trimmed 3.7 per cent and 4.4 per cent to 26GHp and 86GHp.
Trading activity and outlook
Volume and turnover registered for the week were impressive, exceeding figures recorded during the previous tow weeks.
A total of 5.75 million shares changed hands in 26 equities. This compares to the 1.64 million shares that were exchanged the previous two weeks.
Turnover for the week came up to GH¢6.56 million, compared to the previous two weeks' GH¢3.83 million.
In this week, we expect Standard Chartered, CAL Bank and GCB Bank to be under investors’ radar as they closed last week’s ending session with outstanding bids.
Benso Oil Palm and Guinness Ghana may also edge higher. Unilever Ghana may be steady in spite of the outstanding offers. With some buyers quoting below market in SIC Insurance, the stock may record some decline in the week ahead.
Money market
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) exceeded its target amount at the auction held October 3 as higher bids submitted by dealers proved tempting. Upward pressure was on the short-dated securities with the 91 and 182-day bills climbing at the end of the weekly sale.
A total amount of GH¢598.88 million was raised by the bank in bills and notes. This was higher than the GH¢593 million it had anticipated to raise. Total bids submitted by dealers amounted to GH¢599.43 million.
At the end of the auction, the 91-day bill was up by 25 basis points to 25.71 per cent. The 182-day bill also ticked up to 26.41 per cent from 26.4 per cent the previous two weeks. The One-year and Two-year notes also were unchanged at 22.5 per cent and 23 per cent respectively.
In this week, we look forward to rates staying steady as we do not foresee any changes in investors’ outlook of the economy’s fundamentals.
Foreign exchange market
The Cedi continued to show some stability on the currency market partly on the back of recent forex inflows.
It firmed up by 0.01 per cent against the Dollar as the Federal Reserve’s concerns about the strength of the greenback weighed. Rates by bankers for the local currency versus the Dollar at last week’s close averaged GH¢3.20.
The local currency, however, failed to take advantage of weak economic data coming out of Europe during the week under review. The Cedi was down by 0.32 per cent and 0.15 per cent against the Euro and the Pound to close the week at GH¢4.06 and GH¢5.16 respectively.
Against the Swiss Franc and the South African Rand, the Cedi trimmed 0.06 per cent and 1.08 per cent with mid-rates of GH¢3.35 and GH¢0.28 being quoted on October 10.
Graphic Business