ACCRA, August 2 -

The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) index shot up on Monday, thanks to a big gain in Standard Chartered bank, the market report showed.

The all-share index gained 8.68 points, ending at 796.49. It is now down 8.27 percent on the year to date.

The index has been moving in a very narrow range in recent sessions.

Volume was relatively high at 222,700 shares worth 712.9 million cedis ($274,208).

Standard Chartered Bank (SCB.GH) gained 500 cedis to close at 22,500, with 15,200 shares traded.

Unilever (UNIL.GH) was the other gainer, rising 110 cedis to 1,890. It was the most active stock with 220,000 shares traded, or 89 percent of the total.

Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB.GH) and Home Finance Company (HFC.GH) were the two losers, shedding 50 and one cedi respectively to 1,600 and 749 cedis. ($-2,600 cedis)