Barely one week since the Bank of Ghana reduced its Policy Rate to 16 percent from 18 percent, investor attention appears to have shifted to the stock market as volumes of shares traded had started increasing. Except Tuesday and Wednesday, volume traded on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) last week run into millions. For instance, shares traded on Monday and Thursday were 3,693,092 and 2,587,141. 134,186. Stocks traded on Tuesday and Wednesday was however estimated at 201,119. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), parent company of Ecobank Ghana; Ghana Commercial Bank and SIC Insurance were the most active traded equities on the Accra Bourse last week though ETI shed off a pesewa. The gainers on the exchange during the week under the review were more than the losers with Total Petroleum and Stanchart leading the pack. In all, there were five gainers as compared with three losers. Analysts argue that this is the time for investors to buy more equities since the market was gathering momentum and moreover lending rates were coming down. And with intense expectations that inflation, the main determinant of interest rates would come down, the stock market would perform well this year. Treasury bill rates have also fallen significantly by about 10 percent. Between October 2009 and mid-February 2010, the benchmark 91-day Treasury bill rate went down by 8.4 percent to 17.4 percent whiles the 182-day Treasury bill rate declined by 10.0 percent to 18.7 percent. This to some extent has compelled investors to look at the stock market as a save haven for investments since some equities can accrue returns of about 50 percent instead of the below 20 percent return that the money market funds could offer. Last year, the GSE went down by about 48 but a recent report suggests that the market could record about 15 percent return in 2010. As the GSE outlined its plans and programmes for the year including improving liquidity on the market and increasing the number of listed companies, investors would show more interest on the market. Analysts at Databank and IC Securities have predicted positive developments forecast for the market this year. In the outlook, Databank had forecast that the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) will return between 7.0 and 10 percent by the end of 2010, based on the GSE All Share Index while IC Securities had said that the market rise in 2010 will be driven by increased investor activity, shifting away from the convention of the Ghana stock market" where financial performance of companies tended to move the market. 2009 witness terrible times for Ghanaian stocks as the GSE experienced massive declines in stock prices accompanied with slight rises. The up and downward movement of the market captured by the GSE All Share Index reached its lowest level of 5,387.96 points on July 14 representing a year-to-date return of negative 48.3 percent. However, as at last Thursday, the GSE had recorded an index of 5,644.37 and a year-to-date of 1.48 percent. Source: Business Guide