Inflation peaked after four months of consistent decline to 12.3 per cent in August, representing a 0.40 percentage point rise from previous month readings of 11.9 per cent.
This was due to inflation pressures from rising petroleum prices, new taxes and base effects on the CPI.
Inflation at the food and non-alcoholic beverages settled at 7.4 per cent as against 7.2 per cent in July. Inflation at the non-food sector also rose from 14.2 per cent in July to 14.7 per cent in August.
In spite of the rise, general inflation outlook is still positive but expected to increase marginally in September as demand for crude oil catches up with global supply.
A potential shock from the education sector is also expected to affect inflation forecast for the month of September.
Treasury Securities
The week’s auction ended with the 91-Day T-Bill decreasing by 5 basis points to 13.14 per cent whereas the 182-Day T-Bill trimmed by 11 basis points to settle at 14.03 per cent. The yields on all other treasury securities remained unchanged at their respective rate-of-returns.
At the close of the week’s auction, the Government of Ghana accepted GH¢710.94 million bids out of the GH¢767.60 million bids tendered.
Government’s anticipated purchase of GH¢995 million was, however, unattained. In the next auction, government seeks to raise GH¢1,001.00 million worth of the 91-Day and 182-Day T-Bills.
Ghana Stock Exchange
Recent bullish outlook of the equity market seems to give way following consistent closure of the market in the red as selling pressure soaks some heavily capitalised stocks in the financial sector.
Report of a diamond back-fired deal of Standard Chartered Bank PLC losing as much as $400 million and investors displeasure in the recent absorption of two ailing banks by the GCB Bank continues to take a toll on the market sentiment.
Following these developments, the benchmark GSE-Composite Index dipped by 2.70 per cent to an index level of 2,310.28 points corresponding to a year-to-date return of 36.78 per cent.
The GSE Financial Stock Index also declined by 4.32 per cent to settle at 2,023.29 points, lessening its year-to-date gains to 30.92 per cent.
At the closing bell, a total volume of 3.19 million shares valued at GH¢7.70 million was observed as compared to previous week’s volume of 1.83 million shares worth GH¢8.55 million. CAL Bank Ltd led the activity chart in terms of volume as it accounted for 46.36 per cent of the week’s total traded volume.
Standard Chartered Bank, however, contributed most in terms of value with 24.80 per cent of the week’s total value. Market capitalisation declined by 1.03 per cent to settle at GH¢57,762.10 million.
Stock Price Movements
In all, eleven equities witnessed price changes. Benso Oil Palm Plantation emerged as the most gainer with a 19 pesewas gain to close at GH¢3.51 per share. Unilever Ghana Ltd followed closely with 13 pesewas gains to trade at GH¢10.55 per share.
HFC Bank Ltd and Societe Generale Ghana Ltd rose by 3 pesewas and a pesewa to trade at GH¢1.35 and 77 pesewas per share respectively. The share prices of Ghana Oil Company Ltd and PBC also upturned by a pesewa each to close at GH¢2.32 and 5 pesewas per share respectively.
Giant stock, including Standard Chartered Bank Ltd, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated and GCB Bank Ltd were among the week’s laggards. Standard Chartered Bank Ltd closed as the worst performing stock as it shedded GH¢3.00 to close at GH¢20.00 per share.
Enterprise Group Ltd tumbled by 32 pesewas to trade at GH¢5.00 per share. GCB Bank Ltd declined by 6 pesewas to close at GH¢4.44 per share. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated and Camelot Ghana Ltd shed a pesewa each to trade at 15 pesewas and 11 pesewas respectively.
Commodities Market
Crude oil recorded a weekly gain of 3.18 per cent on rising demand and decline in global supply. The upward revision of global demand for crude oil from 1.5 million barrel per day to 1.6 million barrel per day by the International Energy Agency and the shutdown of major US crude producers following the hurricane contributed to the narrowing of the gap between demand and supply on the commodities market.
The price of Brent Crude oil, thus, settled at US$ 55.49 per ounce, up by US$1.71.
Gold closed in the red as demand was cut short by an easing geopolitical tension between the US and North Korea. North Korea’s decision to scale back efforts of launching another missile over Japan and recent rise in US Treasury yields lowered the patronage of the safe-haven commodity by investors as they shifted attention to high-yielding assets. Gold was down by 1.73 per cent, representing a US$23.38 loss to trade at US$1,327.82 per ounce.
In spite of the increasing supply of cocoa from Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria on the international market following favourable climatic conditions, the price of the soft crop settled higher this week. The recent decision of the Government of Ghana to keep the producer price of the soft crop unchanged scaled back the quantum of the commodity on the international market following their displeasure of the directive. The price of cocoa surged by 0.84 per cent to trade at US$1,988.50 per metric tonne.