Stock market capitalisation jumps by GH¢3.64 billion in April 2021

The value of the Ghana Stock Exchange grew by GH¢3.64 billion in April to GH¢60.8 billion, as the market’s bull run since the last quarter of 2020 continues.

At the end of trading in April, the GSE Composite Index achieved a year-to-date return of 31.93 percent compared with 13.99 percent at the end of March. The financial stocks index also posted a 5.29 percent year-to-date return, improving from 3.54 percent in March.

Over the same four months of last year, the GSE Composite Index suffered a loss of 3.74 percent, while the financial stocks index went down by 5.61 percent.

About 28.77m shares were traded in April, slightly lower than trades made in the same period of 2020.

The stock price of MTN Ghana saw the highest rise in the month, increasing by 34 percent to GH¢1.14. MTN has been one of the major winners in the COVID era, as digital payments, online meetings and e-commerce have become the new norm, boosting the company’s revenues.

GCB Bank led the gainers among financial stocks, followed by Cal Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Societe Generale. Ecobank Ghana recorded a price decline, while five other stocks remained unchanged.

Market analysts attributed the general price gains in financial stocks to the good performance of listed financial institutions despite the pandemic.

With yields on government securities declining, the market is expecting a continuous uptrend in the key indices as investors seek higher returns. Key among such investors are pension fund managers, some of whom have over-invested in government securities and will try to rebalance their portfolios in favour of the equity market.

Market experts project that the equities market is set for continued growth given the government’s policy to permanently exempt taxes on capital gains on listed securities.