Yields on treasury securities soften further
Yields on Government of Ghana treasury securities witnessed another moderation in anticipation of increasing private sector investment in the coming days.
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At the close of business on April 28, the rates on the 91-Day T/Bill and the 182-Day T/Bill softened by 60 basis points (bps) and nine bps to 14.84 per cent and 16.38 per cent respectively.
The yield on the 1-year fixed note also declined by 50 bps to 17.50 per cent.
At the end of the auction, the government accepted GH¢1.57 billion of the total GH¢1.84 billion bids presented by investors.
Out of the total bids purchased, the 91-Day and 182-Day T/Bills constituted 76.35 per cent.
The overall performance was impressive, as the total bids purchased exceeded the week’s target of GH¢1.43 billion.
In the next auction, slated for May 5, the government expects to raise GH¢603 million of the 91-Day and 182-Day treasury securities and GH¢400 million from the 1-year fixed note.
The yield curve of the government treasury securities assumed a non-regular yield trend at the end of the week’s auction.
Despite the non-attainment, the recent moderation on the yields of the various treasuries is a contribution at improving private sector investment. As yields continue to moderate, especially on the short-to-medium term securities, we hope to see a restoration to a regular pattern in the near weeks.
Stock market
The equity market sustained its recent winning streak despite starting the week on a gloomy note.
At the closing bell, the GSE Composite Index advanced by 0.55 per cent to close at index level of 1,896.13 points, reflecting year-to-date returns of 12.26 per cent.
The GSE Financial Stock Index also increased by 0.64 per cent to settle at 1,798.26 points while recording year-to-date returns of 16.36 per cent.
With 22 equities actively traded on the bourse, a total volume of 2.12 million of shares valued at GH¢2.69 million were exchanged.
The traded volume of shares was 16.86 per cent higher than the previous week’s volume.
At the closing bell, UT Bank Ltd, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Enterprise Ghana Ltd and Ghana Oil Company Ltd dominated in trading, jointly accounting for 68.96 per cent of the total traded shares.
The market capitalisation significantly advanced by 20.59 percent to GH¢58,822.68 million on account of improved market activities.
Price movements
Price movements were recorded in 12 equities – nine advancers and three laggards.
Unilever Ghana Ltd gained 15 pesewas to close at GH¢9.05 per share. Access Bank (Ghana) Ltd and CAL Bank Ltd up ticked by 10 pesewas and 7 pesewas to close trading at GH¢4 and 72 pesewas respectively. Shares of Guinness Ghana Brewery Ltd, HFC Bank Ltd and The Trust Bank (Gambia) Ltd increased by 2 pesewas each to close at GH¢1.52, 52 pesewas and 25 pesewas per share respectively.
Other advancers in the week’s trading were Benso Oil Palm Plantation Ltd, Enterprise Ghana Ltd and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated.
The flip side saw the share price of Standard Chartered Bank tumble by 26 pesewas to end trading at GH¢15.57 per share.
Ecobank Ghana Limited declined by 6 pesewas to trade at GH¢7.49 per share.
Ghana Oil Company Ltd also slipped by a pesewa to close at GH¢1.31 per share.
Forex market
Forex trading ended with the cedi losing its ground to the major trading currencies.
The greenback, which rode on the back of duty imposition on certain products from Canada, failed to sustain its performance on the international currency market.
In spite of the lackluster outlook of the dollar, the local currency could not benefit, as it depreciated by 0.57 per cent to trade at GH¢4.19 per dollar. The Ghana cedi, however, held to a positive year-to-date performance of 0.32 per cent.
The Euro witnessed one of its exciting oscillating performance in the trading week on the international market due to major conflicting developments in the Eurozone.
The week started off great for the Euro as it outperformed a basket of currencies due to the comfortable first round of France’s election, which eased political uncertainties there.
This was, however, short-lived on account of the dovish sentiment expressed by the European Central Bank on its monetary policy during the week.
The last trading day of the week saw the Euro recovering on the international forex front, following upbeat inflation data of 1.9 per cent in the first quarter.
The Euro, thus closed with a week-o-week appreciation of 2.51 per cent against the cedi to trade at GH¢4.56, reflecting a year-to-date depreciation of 2.80 per cent.
The British Pound clocked a weekly appreciation of 1.82 per cent against the cedi despite experiencing a significant fall last Monday on the international currencies market.
The cedi’s downtrend against the Sterling was on the back of subdued political risk in the Eurozone, which also drove investors into buying more pound.
The local currency exchanged at GH¢5.42 per pound, ending the week at a year-to-date depreciation of 4.23 per cent.
