Ghana’s financial markets delivered a mixed but broadly resilient performance during the latest trading week, with strong equity gains and robust Treasury bill demand contrasting with cedi depreciation and a slowdown in secondary bond market activity, according to data from the Ghana Fixed Income Market (GFIM) and the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE).
Fixed Income Market
Investor appetite for government securities surged in the primary market as demand for Treasury Bills jumped from GH¢4,206.80 million in the previous week to GH¢7,371.24 million in the recent auction.
The government sought to raise GH¢4,602.00 million but received GH¢7,371.24 million, representing a 60.17% oversubscription.
Acceptance rates for the latest auction stood at 90.98% for the 91-day bill, 82.01% for the 182-day bill, and 78.93% for the 364-day bill.
Yields also moved upward across all maturities, with the 91-day T-bill rising by 42 basis points to 5.73%, the 182-day increasing by 56 basis points to 7.69%, and the 364-day jumping by 146 basis points to 12.82%.
Government is next expected to raise GHS 3.371 billion in its upcoming auction.
In the secondary market, however, trading activity declined. Volumes on the GFIM fell by 18.9% week-on-week to GHS 8.85 billion.
Treasury bills dominated transactions with 69.53%, followed by DDEP bonds at 17.77%, sell-buy-back operations at 12.29%, and corporate bonds accounting for just 0.41%.
Cedi weakens across major trading currencies
The Ghana cedi extended its depreciation trend, weakening by 0.69% against the US dollar to GH¢11.30, bringing year-to-date losses to 7.46%.
Against the British pound, the cedi fell by 0.63% to GH¢14.92, reflecting a 5.79% year-to-date depreciation. It also eased by 0.06% versus the euro to GH¢12.87, with a year-to-date decline of 4.61%, based on Bank of Ghana interbank midrates.
Open market indicative rates were higher, with the dollar quoted at GH¢11.45, the pound at GH¢15.18, and the euro at GH¢13.10.
Stock market extends strong rally on broad-based gains
The Ghana Stock Exchange maintained its bullish momentum, with the GSE Composite Index closing the week at 14,766.82 points, representing a strong year-to-date return of 68.37%. Gains in IIL, CLYD, ZEN, GCB, SIC, KASA, MTNGH, and SOGEGH drove the performance.
Top gainers included IIL, which rose 23.08% to GH¢0.16 (YTD: 220.00%); CLYD, up 18% to GH¢2.95 (YTD: 541.30%); ZEN, which gained 9.90% to GH¢10.99 (YTD: 119.80%); GCB, up 8.33% to GH¢39.00 (YTD: 93.93%); and SIC, which advanced 7.68% to GH¢6.03 (YTD: 402.50%).
On the lagging side, ETI dipped 0.44% to GH¢2.27 (YTD: 194.81%), SCB declined 0.52% to GH¢71.00 (YTD: 142.98%), CAL fell 1.22% to GH¢0.81 (YTD: 26.56%), GGBL dropped 7.70% to GH¢11.99 (YTD: 81.67%), and RBGH weakened 8.92% to GH¢4.39 (YTD: 237.69%).
Market activity surged sharply, with trading volumes rising 223.46% from 13.36 million shares to 43.21 million shares, while total value traded reached approximately GH¢125.85 million. Analysts expect continued support from financial and ICT stocks to sustain the index’s momentum in the coming week.
