GRi BEF News Ghana 06 - 02 - 2001
GCB transaction lifts All-Share Index
GCB transaction lifts All-Share Index
Accra (Greater Accra) 06 February 2001
The sale of Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) stocks on Monday lifted the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) All-Share Index up by 1.07 points to open the week's trading at 859.96 points from 858.89 points.
GCB gained 10 cedis at 1,530 cedis and sold all the 17,400 shares posted valued at 26.6 million cedis.
Volume of shares traded was, however, low even though it recorded an upward shift of more than double from 11,900 to 23,800 shares.
Only six equities sold shares with GCB taking the bulk. Super Paper Products Company (SPPC) sold 3,200, Pioneer Aluminium Factory sold 1,000 shares and Unilever Ghana sold 900 shares. Aluworks sold only 100 shares despite its impressive performance in the past week.
Mr Patrick Kingsley-Nyinah of Databank Brokerage Limited said most investors are waiting for end-of-year results to decide which stocks to invest in.
Shares offered increased to 577,110 from 361,493 but bids declined marginally from 143,000 to 140,200.
Market capitalisation went up to 3,658.41 billion cedis from 3,656.76 billion cedis.
In the broader market, there was only one price change.GCB gained 10 cedis to finish trading at 1,530 cedis.
The following are the last prices of listed equities in cedis:
ABL 550
AGC 18,600
ALW 4,900
BAT 400
CFAO 53
EIC 2,885
FML 850
GBL 1,350
GCB 1,520 +10
GGL 900
HFC 952
MGL 200
MLC 135
MOGL 18,700
PAF 255
PBC 490
PZ 400
SCB 21,500
SPPC 285
SSB 2,080
UNIL 1,600
CMLT 425
GRi…/
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Accra (Greater Region) 06 February 2001
The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) has begun a new arrangement for a "continuous auction trading" on trial basis for eight of the listed equities.
The new arrangement, which started two weeks ago, allows the Exchange to trade for longer hours and forms part of measures to address difficulties faced in the use of the current trading system known as the "call over system."
Equities involved in the new arrangement were chosen at random to give all listed companies a chance to benefit from the trial run, which will last for three weeks.
If successful, the new arrangement will cover the rest of the equities after an assessment.
Equities picked for the trial are British-American-Tobacco Company (BAT), Enterprise Insurance Company (EIC), Fan Milk Limited (FML), Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), Guinness Ghana Limited (GGL), Mobil Ghana Limited, Produce Buying Company (PBC) and Unilever Ghana Limited (UNIL).
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency on phone, the General Manager of GSE, Mr Francis Tweneboa, explained that the Exchange had experienced some difficulties in the current call over system.
This system allows offers and bids for only one stock at a time and does not make room for clients to bid to their advantage.
With the call over system, names of the stocks are shouted for offers and bids. If a client wishes to make a transaction after his chance passes, he or she has to wait until the next round to make a match.
In the new system, boards will be provided for the quotation or display offers and brokers can match orders as and when it favours their clients.
Mr Tweneboa said whereas the call over system lasts for about two hours, the new arrangement would continue for about six hours from 1000 hours to 1600 hours.
The closing time would also give brokers enough time to make settlements.
Mr Yofi Grant, an Executive Director of Databank Brokerage Limited, in another interview, lauded the new arrangement and said it is an attempt to modernise activities of the GSE.
"The call over system has become obsolete and is a far cry from what exists on international markets," he said, and commended its potential to allow brokers to talk to clients during trading on the floor.
Mr Grant said brokerage firms agree to the new arrangement, which will serve as a pre-cursor to electronic trading to enable the Ghana bourse to be part of globalisation.
He said, however, that modernisation of activities on the GSE must be gradual to allow the smaller of the 12 brokerage firms who trade on the floor to catch up with the pace in terms of expansion of offices, clients and expansion of the trading floor.
Mr Patrick Kingsley-Nyinah, a broker with Databank, said the new system allows for the free flow of information, which hitherto was locked up as brokers and clients could not get in touch.
He said even though the effect is not immediate, it is a good move in the right direction.
Mr Kingsley-Nyinah said whereas the old system traded orders in volumes, the new arrangement trades orders with time where both big and small orders can be matched and traded on first-come-first-served basis, no matter the volume of stock being purchased.
He expressed the hope that the public will get used to the new arrangements and make good use of it to help the exchange grow.
GRi…/
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