MTN Ghana dominated trading on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), recording 87.48% of total volumes traded in the third quarter of 2021.
Trading volumes declined by 41.8% as share volume of 73.50 million changed hands compared with 104.22 million shares volumes traded in the second quarter.

The valued of shares traded in the third quarter was GH₵103.55 million compared to GH₵135.24 million settled in the second of 2021, representing 30.6% decline.
Tesah Capital, in its third quarter Economic and Financial Market review report, indicated that a total of 15 listed equities recorded gains while there were three losers in the third quarter.


The gainers are Fan Milk – 118.7%, Unilever – 77.2%, Ecobank Transnational -60%, Société Générale – 38.9%, Benso Oil Pal Plantation – 31.8%, Guinness Ghana – 27.9%, Total – 29.4%, Enterprise Group – 22.2%, Ecobank – 11.6%, GOIL – 9.7%, Standard Chartered Bank – 9.4%, Calbank – 5.7%, Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Preference Shares – 3.4% and MTN Ghana – 2.5%.


The losers are Cocoa Processing Company – 33.3%, Republic Bank – 4.4% and GCB – 0.4%.
The GSE Composite Index continued on an upward trajectory in the third quarter of 2021 as it added 211.62 points to close the quarter at 2,855.29 points up from 2,643.67 points in second quarter of 2021.
The year-to-date return is 47.06%.
The equities market performance during the quarter was driven mainly by gains recorded by the GSE Financial Stocks Index (GSE-FI).


The GSE-FI gained 9.82% following the release of the first half of 2021 financial results of listed banks as compared to a gain of 1.38% in the previous quarter.
Total market capitalisation witnessed 4.63% increase to over GH₵64.1 billion (GH₵64,170.83m)

Investment gains


One of the primary benefits of investing in the stock market is the chance to grow money.
Over time, the stock market tends to rise in value, though the prices of individual stocks rise and fall daily.
Investments in stable companies that are able to grow tend to make profits for investors.
Likewise, investing in many different stocks will help build wealth by leveraging growth in different sectors of the economy, resulting in a profit even if some individual stocks lose value.

Dividend income


Some stocks provide income in the form of a dividend.
While not all stocks offer dividends, those that do deliver annual payments to investors.
These payments arrive even if the stock has lost value and represent income on top of any profits that come from eventually selling the stock.
Dividend income can help fund a retirement or pay for even more investing as an investor grows investment portfolio over time.

Diversification


For investors who put money into different types of investment products, a stock market investment has the benefit of providing diversification.
Stock market investments change value independently of other types of investments, such as bonds and real estate.
Holding stock can help investor weather losses to other investment products.
Stock also adds risk to a portfolio, as well as the potential for large, rapid gains, helping investors avoid risk-averse or overly conservative investment strategies.

Ownership


Buying shares of stock means taking on ownership stake in the company.
This means that investing in the stock market also brings benefits that are part of being one of a business’ owners.
Shareholders vote on corporate board members and certain business decisions.
They also receive annual reports to learn more about the company.
Owning stock in the company can be a way to express loyalty and tie an investor’s personal finances to the success of the business as a whole

Credit: Thefinder

(By Elvis DARKO)