Analyst allays fears December polls will negatively affect stock market

A stock exchange analyst, Winslow Sackeyfio, has allayed fears Ghana’s December 7 general elections will have a negative impact on the performance of stocks on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE).

The GSE has seen some decline and withdrawals in the shares of some listed companies, a situation which has been attributed to uncertainties stemming from this year’s December 7 elections.

The stock exchange experienced high interest rate for fixed incomes, trading at 11.3 percent The decline is reportedly affecting gains and returns on the local bourse and reducing investor confidence. But commenting on the issue, Mr Sackeyfio who is also an investment expert with the First Banc, rejected claims the election will negatively affect the performance of the GSE.

“Fortunately, elections don’t really have a negative effect on the stock market. When you look at history from 1992 down, the only election year that the election did badly was 1992,” he noted. He added that: “We have had after that, some positive results in other election years. So judging from history this year will also be better”. Meanwhile, Head of brokerage at First Banc, Edem Akpenyo, says there will be a turnaround for the stocks market, which he said experienced declined due to the ripple effect from the performance of the economy.

“One of the factors that have affected performance for this year is the economy. We foresee some opportunities in the relative stability in the cedi and this can draw in some gains and ensure some stability on the stocks exchange, he said.