Active session on stock market

Accra (Greater Accra), 21 Jan. '99 - Trading recorded an active session today with nine equities making gains to send the market index up, but volumes fell sharply as investors resorted to profit taking. Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) which had lost 320 cedis since trading began this year, redeemed 70 cedis today selling 27,000 shares in a turn around of events with investors increasing at the offers counter. The GSE All Share Index went up by 13.06 points to finish mid-week trading at 884.55 points. This brings the change in the year so far to 1.87 per cent. The previous index was 871.49 points. Volume of shares traded went down to 91,090 from the 124,360 shares posted on Monday. Offers closed at 2.4 million and demand was 126,600. Market capitalisation on the strength of the gains today appreciated to 3,394 billion cedis from 3,368 billion cedis registered at the previous session. In the broader market, 10 equities experienced price changes with nine gainers and a loser. Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) gained 600 cedis to close at 24,600 cedis, but sold only 300 shares. GCB appreciated by 70 cedis to finish at 1,100 cedis while Ashanti Goldfields Company (AGC) continued its rally with a 50-cedi gain to end at 19,000 cedis. Other gainers were Mobil Oil Ghana Limited, (MOGL) which went up by 100 cedis to end at 20,000 cedis, Pioneer Tobacco Company (PTC), which gained 20 cedis to close 420 cedis and Mechanical Lloyd Company (MLC), was up by four cedis to close 230 cedis. Unilever Ghana Limited (UNIL) was up by five cedis to close trading at 1,625 cedis with Guinness Ghana Limited (GGL) appreciating three cedis to end 953 cedis. SSB Bank inched up by a cedi to close at 2,272 cedis. The lone loser was Ghana Brewery Limited (GBL), which lost 150 cedis closing at 1,850 cedis. The following are the last prices of listed equities in cedis :

ABL 800

AGC 19,000 +50

ALW 2,800

CFAO 55

EIC 2,400

FML 1,680

GBL 1,850 -150

GCB 1,100 +70

GGL 953 +3

HFC 750

MGL 220

MLC 230 +4

MOGL 20,000 +100

PAF 400

PTC 420 +20

PZ 900

SCB 24,600 +600

SPPC 250

SSB 2,272 +1

UNIL 1,625 +5

UTC-E 125