Cedi loses grounds against three major trading currencies

The Ghana cedi lost grounds against the three major trading currencies on the international currency market.

The US dollar advanced on the international currency market buoyed by chains of upbeat economic data from the US economy which are likely to compel the Fed to reconsider its position of leaving interest rate unchanged.

On the back of this, the US dollar recorded 0.18 per cent week-on-week appreciation against the local currency as its selling price rose to GH¢5.74 on the interbank currency market. The year-to-date appreciation of the cedi thus reduced to 0.32 per cent.

The British pound gained support after hawkish commentary by the Bank of England on interest rate outlook in the UK. The British pound ended the trading week with 0.25 per cent appreciation against the cedi at a selling price of GH¢8.15 on the interbank currency market. The year-to-date depreciation of the local currency thus rose to 3.27 per cent.

The Euro posted a marginal appreciation on the international forex market as its support in the week’s trade was nearly eroded by negative developments. The euro saw 0.12 per cent appreciation against the cedi at a selling price of GH¢7.00. The year-to-date appreciation of the cedi thus lowered to 0.99 per cent.

Treasury securities

At the recently held auction, interest rates on the GoG treasury securities were mixed adjusted. The yield on the 91-Day T-Bill rose by two basis points to 12.78 per cent.

That on the 364-Day T-Bills also inched up by seven basis points to 16.49 per cent but the yield on the 182-Day T-Bill shed three basis points to 13.51 per cent. Yields on Government Bonds and treasury notes, however, remained unchanged.

At the auction, the Government accepted GH¢1,817.56 million worth of bids out of GH¢1,852.67 million bids tendered by investors. The GH¢1,177.00 million targets set by the Government was exceeded by GH¢640.56 million.

The 91-Day T-Bill was the most accepted bids with a share composition of 80.79 per cent. An amount of GH¢1,281.00 million is expected to be raised from the sale of 91-Day, and 182-Day T-Bills at the next auction.

Ghana Stock Exchange

The Accra Bourse recovered from the previous week’s decline lifted by seven advancers. At the closing bell, the GSE Composite Index clocked a week-on-week gain of 0.20 per cent as it settled at 2,421.11 points, corresponding to a year-to-date gain of 24.70 per cent.

The GSE Financial Stocks Index also registered a week-on-week gain of 0.23 per cent as it settled at an index level of 1,840.99 points to record a year-to-date return of 6.74 per cent.

At the closing bell, a total of 20.62 million shares valued at GH¢19.54 million exchanged hands in twenty equities. This outstripped the previous week’s outturn of 15.78 million shares worth GH¢25.18 million. MTN Ghana Ltd and CAL Bank Ltd were the most actively traded stocks as they jointly accounted for 93.05 per cent of the overall traded shares.

Market capitalisation also improved by 0.08 per cent to settle at GH¢59,333.16 million on the account of the bearish closure of the benchmark index.

Stock price movement

At the pairing of the week’s opening and closing prices, a total of eight equities altered their share prices. Seven advancers and a lone laggard. Standard Chartered Bank Ltd led the bulls with capital appreciation of 30 pesewas as it settled at GH¢18.50 per share.

Fan Milk Ltd and Pesewa One Plc followed suite with price gains of six pesewas and five pesewas to trade at GH¢1.32 and 65 pesewas per share, respectively.

Ghana Oil Company Ltd and Société Générale Ghana Ltd had their share prices rising by four pesewas and three pesewas to trade at GH¢1.55 and 87 pesewas per share, respectively. Other advancers were Total Petroleum Ltd, GCB Bank Ltd and Enterprise Group Ltd.

On the flipside, CAL Bank Ltd shed a pesewa to trade at 79 pesewas per share.

Commodities

Brent crude oil overturned previous week’s declines as upbeat demand outlook counters supply concerns on the international commodities market. It rose by US$3.19 to trade at US$69.63 per barrel.

Gold finished the trading week on a positive note as it made of its most gains prior to Friday’s slide. The commodity saw US$23.45 appreciation as it finished at US$1,905.30 per ounce.

Coffee appreciated in value on the international commodities market after the Brazilian agency – Marex – indicated that production was much lower than reported due to low soil moisture. It gained 12 cents to trade at US$1.62 per pound.

Cocoa traded lower on account of rising supply from Ivory Coast onto the international commodities market. The soft commodity lost US$44.00 to settle at US$2,412.00 per metric tonne.