Foreign exchange inflows continue to exceed sales but by a much smaller margins than for most of August with authorized dealers buying another $2.7 million more than they sold on Wednesday, bringing the net inflows since the end of June, to US$268 million. In Wednesday’s trading, dealers bought US$38,398,614 and sold US$35,708,315 compared to US$42,556,485 purchased and US$31,710,930 sold on Tuesday, of all currencies.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$35,926,513 compared to US$38,239,418 on Tuesday. The buying rate for the US dollar gained 8 cents to close at $126.90.
A total of US$31,057,928 was sold versus US$29,280,909 on Tuesday, with the selling rate rising 6 cents to end at $127.57. The Canadian dollar buying rate dropped $2.60 to $94.51, with dealers buying C$771,704 and selling C$3,689,777 at an average rate that rose 55 cents to $98.74. The average rate for buying the British Pound rose 79 cents to $164.26 for the purchase of £1,406,245 while only £1,092,489 was sold with the rate that climbing $1.42 to end at $167.23.
At the end of trading, the selling rate for the Euro, dropped by $2.72 cents to close at J$140.94 from Tuesday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, dealers purchased the European common currency at J$137.26 for a rise of 17 cents from the rate on Tuesday. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded amounts to US$77,039 being bought, while US$362,552, was sold.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest traded rates, for the Jamaican dollar in the foreign exchange market on Wednesday, include a jump of $19.17 in the lowest selling rate for the US dollar to $123. The highest buying rate for the Canadian Dollar dropped $1.45 to close at $97.20, the highest selling rate fell $1.76 to $101.12 and the lowest selling rate rose $2.20 to $94.20. Trading in the British Pound resulted in a rise of $2.60 in the highest buying rate to $169.60 and a fall of $3.35 in the highest selling rate to close of $173.66.
Archives for August 2016
Surplus FX purchases at US$268M
JSE closes higher in August
Price movement on the Jamaica Stock Exchange picked on Wednesday with the all Jamaica Composite Index climbing more than 800 points over the close on Tuesday and 632.54 points more than at the end of July. A total of 2,531,618 units valued at $31,698,751, up from $27,344,934 on Tuesday, changed hands. Of the stocks trading in all market segments, the junior market accounted for 1,201,093 units valued at $5,410,798.
After trading closed, Jamaica Stock Exchange advised that the Board of Directors will be considering a stock split at a board meeting scheduled to be held on Wednesday, September 21, 2016.
At the close of trading, the JSE Market Index climbed 757.91 points to end at 160,387.57. The 
all Jamaica Composite Index rose 847.60 points to close at 178,203.70 and the JSE combined index moved up 870.87 points, to end at 171,517.24 as the junior market gained strongly, thus negating some of the main market fall.
At the close of the market prices of 18 securities gained out of a total of 41 that traded, with 10 declining in the overall market, including 9 stocks rising and 4 falling, in the junior market.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 18 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 with lower offers. The strong reading of the IC indicator is not a good indicator for Thursday trading activities as it comes at the end of the month when portfolio managers intervene in the market in support of the portfolios they manage.
In market activity, Cable & Wireless traded just 56,300 shares and closed 5 cents higher at $1.10, Caribbean Cement traded only 1,473 shares to climb 89 cents and closed at $26.49, Carreras traded 61,417 shares but fell 50 cents to close at $65.50, Grace Kennedy lost 15 cents to end at $43.55, with 17,228 shares changing hands. Jamaica Broilers had 111,972 shares changing hands, to end with a loss of 8 cents at $14.52. Jamaica Producers fell 30 cents to end at $8.50 with 115,980 units trading, 
Jamaica Stock Exchange ended with 18,034 units changing hands to close at $21.50, the announcement of a stock split could change investors’ perception of the stock when trading resumes on Thursday. JMMB Group traded 29,547 units at $10. Kingston Wharves traded 30,629 shares to close at $17.01, Margaritaville Turks traded 300,000 shares to close at 21 US cents after rising by a cent, Mayberry Investments ended with 15,041 shares trading to close at $3.28,National Commercial Bank had 149,200 units changing hands but fell 51 cents to close at $40.49. Pan Jamaican Investments rose 40 cents to close at $23.50, after trading 1,078 shares, Portland JSX traded 24,571 units at $11, Radio Jamaica rose 5 cents in trading 9,388 shares, to end at $1.60, Sagicor Group gained 30 cents with 87,131 shares changing hands at $22.30, Sagicor Real Estate Fund rose 15 cents in trading 37,693 shares, to close at $10.15. Scotia Group gained 40 cents to close at $30.40 with 4,000 shares changing hands, Supreme Ventures gained 9 cents with 42,500 units changing hands at $4.80 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 212,967 units to close at $2.10.
Juniors rose modestly in August
Knutsford Express traded at an all-time high of $26 on Wednesday.
The participation rate on the final day of the month was good with 18 securities being active and resulted in the market closing trading with 1,201,093 units valued at $5,410,798. A total of 9 stocks rose and 4 declined. One stock traded to close at a new high and one traded at an intraday high.
Trading ended with 10 securities closing with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 ending with lower offers.At the close, Access Financial ended trading with 2,337 units at $17.50, Blue Power closed with a rise of 30 cents with 433 units changing hands at a new high of $19.80, CAC 2000 traded 4,500 units to close unchanged at $6.40, Caribbean Cream closed with 7,578 shares changing hands at $7.05 after rising by 5 cents. Caribbean Producers had 55,189 units changing hands to close at $3.50, Consolidated Bakeries lost 6 cents in trading 7,502 shares to close at $2.34, General Accident traded 6,783 units at $2.30 after rising by a cent, Honey Bun had 69,795 shares changing hands to close at $5.80, after gaining 50 cents. Iron Rock Insurance traded 467,982 units but lost 12 cents in closing at $3.18,
Jamaican Teas lost 40 cents while trading 33,000 shares to close at $3.20, Jetcon Corporation ended with a gain of 5 cents at a new high of $3.21, with just 2,000 shares changing hands, KLE Group traded 4,750 shares at $1.40. Knutsford Express traded 10,300 shares to close at $25 after hitting an intraday 52 weeks’ high of $26. Lasco Distributors rose 29 cents and ended with 210,694 shares changing hands at $6.99, Lasco Financial ended with 16,393 shares changing hands to close at $3.35, after dropping 15 cents, Lasco Manufacturing closed at $4.57 with 183,348 shares trading, after rising 2 cents, Medical Disposables traded 75,000 shares with the price rising 41 cents to close at $3.50 and tTech rose 70 cents with 43,509 shares trading to end at $4.50.
JSE gains in early session – Wednesday
In early morning trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the main market rose moderately but the junior market fell moderately.
Jetcon Corporation traded 2,000 shares and rose by 5 cents at a new high of $3.23, Knutsford Express Services traded 5,344 units at a new all-time high of $26, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 212,947 units at $2.10.
At 10:45 am 31 securities traded, resulting in a volume of 514,030 shares changing hands. The average number of shares traded amounts to 16,582 units compared to 40,010 units on Tuesday. The number of stocks falling so far amounts to 8 while the prices of 10 securities rose.
The all Jamaica Composite Index dropped 575.23 points to 177,931.33 the Jamaica Stock Exchange Market Index slipped 514.36 points to 160,144.02, the Jamaica Stock Exchange combined index 448.54 points to close at 171,094.88 and the junior market index fell 2.78 points to 2,197.79.
Trading levels up on TTSE – Tuesday
Grace Kennedy ended at a 52 weeks’ closing high on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
At the close 4 stocks rose, 4 declined and 6 remained unchanged, leading to advances in the market’s indices.
The Composite Index rose 0.76 points to close at 1,159.66, the All T&T Index advanced 0.89 points to close at 1,822.81 and the Cross Listed Index gained 0.08 points to end at 66.10.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator ended with 6 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 with offers that were lower.
Gains| Grace Kennedy contributed 250,840 shares with a value of $641,381 while gaining 2 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $2.55, Massy Holdings closed with 10,393 shares, valued at $2,85 changing hands with a gain of 60 cents to close at $55.50. Republic Financial Holdings gained 2 cents and ended with 11,000 shares with a value of $1,209,902 changing hands at $110 and Scotiabank closed with 4,976 shares changing hands and gained 1 cent to end at $57.31.
Losses| Guardian Holdings had 24,846 shares changing hands to end with a loss of 4 cents at $13.53, Prestige Holdings had 2,791 units changing hands, to close with a loss of 10 cents at $10.80. Readymix
dropped 60 cents to a 52 weeks’ low of $11 with 100 units changing hands and Trinidad and Tobago NGL closed at $23.75 with 1,400 units changing hands after falling 1 cent.Firm Trades| Angostura Holdings ended with 482,737 shares with a value of $6,757,118 changing hands to close at $14, First Citizens traded 3,161 units at $35, JMMB Group had 52,000 shares changing hands at 64 cents. National Commercial Bank ended with 10,000 shares changing hands to close at $2.65 and Sagicor Financial Corporation closed with 16,594 shares changing hands at $6.75 and Trinidad Cement closed at $3.05 with 311,448 shares carrying a value of $949,948 changing hands.
JSE majors gain on Tuesday
Jamaica Producers traded on Tuesday at a 52 weeks’ high.
At the close of trading, the JSE Market Index climbed 431.74 points to end at 159,629.66. The all Jamaica Composite Index rose 386.06 points to close at 177,356.10 and the JSE combined index moved up 285.62 points, to end at 170,646.34 as the junior market gained strongly, thus negating some of the main market fall.
At the close of the market prices of 14 securities gained out of a total of 34 that traded, with 11 declining in the overall market, including 5 stocks rising and 2 falling, in the junior market.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 13 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.In market activity, Cable & Wireless traded 169,776 shares and closed 5 cents higher at $1.05, Caribbean Cement traded 5,300 shares and dropped 79 cents to close at $25.60, Carreras traded 37,115 shares but fell 45 cents to close at $66, Grace Kennedy gained 70 cents to end at $43.70, with 208,375 shares changing hands. Jamaica Broilers had 65,226 shares changing hands, to end with a gain of 8 cents at $14.60. Jamaica Producers gained 39 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ high of $8.80 with 195,440 units trading, Jamaica Stock Exchange ended with 7,125 units changing hands to close with a gain of 25 cents at $21.50,
JMMB Group traded 47,021 units at $10. Mayberry Investments ended with 60,659 shares trading to close at $3.28 for a loss of 42 cents, National Commercial Bank had 60,268 units changing hands at $1 higher to close at $41. Pan Jamaican Investments dropped 70 cents to close at $23.10 after trading 5,000 shares, Radio Jamaica fell 5 cents in trading 109,415 shares, to end at $1.55, Sagicor Group had 98,646 shares changing hands, at $22, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 175,282 shares to close at $10. Scotia Group lost 15 cents to close at $30 with 73,790 shares changing hands, Scotia Investments had 4,056 units changing hands at $26 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 487,033 units to close at $2.10.
Juniors lost ground modestly – Tuesday
Price movements at the close of trading on Tuesday on the junior market ended with 5 stocks rising and just 2 declining. The market closed with only 10 securities trading with the junior market index ending with a loss of 7.06 points to 2,200.57 and with 290,234 units valued at $1,466.535 trading.
Trading ended with 5 securities closing with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 ending with lower offers. Cargo Handlers did not trade on Tuesday but close with a bid to buy 6,680 units at $80.01 and 2,000 units at $80, compared with the last sale of $76.01, if the stock trades at the bid price it would result in a gain for the year of $113 percent for 2016.
At the close, Caribbean Cream closed with 50,000 shares changing hands at $7 after rising by 50 cents, Caribbean Flavours rose 20 cents in trading 34,000 units to close at $7.20, 
Consolidated Bakeries lost 5 cents in trading 1,045 shares to close at $2.40. General Accident traded 7,142 units at $2.29, Honey Bun had 49,344 shares changing hands, to close at $5.30 after shedding 25 cents, Jetcon Corporation ended at $3.16 with 75,200 shares changing hands, Knutsford Express traded 111 shares at $25. Lasco Distributors rose 17 cents and ended with 12,550 shares changing hands at $6.70, Lasco Financial ended with 4,385 shares changing hands at $3.50, after gaining 15 cents and Lasco Manufacturing closed at $4.55 with 56,457 shares trading, after falling 15 cents.
Surplus FX purchases up to US$265M
Foreign exchange inflows continue to exceed sales by wide margins for the past two months with authorized dealers buying another $10.8 million more than they sold on Tuesday, bringing the net inflows since the end of June, to US$265 million. In Tuesday’s trading, dealers bought US$42,556,485 and sold US$31,710,930 compared to US$63,176,140 purchased and US$47,394,596 sold on Monday, of all currencies.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$38,239,418 compared to US$59,700,993 on Monday. The buying rate for the US dollar dipped by 9 cents to close at $126.82. A total of US$29,280,909 was sold versus US$44,268,643 on Monday, with the selling rate rising 7 cents to end at $127.51. 
The Canadian dollar buying rate rose 94 cents to $97.11, with dealers buying C$2,776,775 and selling C$2,485,227 at an average rate that dropped 49 cents to $98.19. The average rate for buying the British Pound rose 49 cents to $163.47 for the purchase of £1,564,410 while only £252,501 was sold with the rate climbed 13 cents to end at $165.81.
At the end of trading, the selling rate for the Euro, fell 9 cents to close at J$143.66 from Monday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, dealers purchased the European common currency at J$137.09 for a drop of 87 cents from the rate on Monday. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded amounts to US$174,341 being bought, while US$187,808, was sold.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest traded rates, for the Jamaican dollar in the foreign exchange market on Tuesday, include a drop of 62 cents in the lowest buying rate for the Canadian Dollar to close at $78.44 and a fall of $1.30 in the lowest selling rate to $92. Trading in the British Pound resulted in a fall of $1 in the highest buying rate to $167, a fall of $1.58 in the lowest buying rate to close of $136.46 and a rise of $2 in the lowest selling rate to $162.
JSE down in early session – Tuesday
In early morning trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, on Tuesday 
the main market dropped mildly but the junior market rose moderately.
Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 487,033 units at $2.10 and was the only stock with volume over 100,000 units.
At 10:45 am 22 securities traded, resulting in a volume of 880,220 shares changing hands. The average number of shares traded amounts to 40,010 units compared to 16,570 units on Monday. The number of stocks falling is now at 4 while the prices of 9 securities rose.
The all Jamaica Composite Index dropped 299.28 points to 176,625.08 the Jamaica Stock Exchange Market Index slipped 267.60 points to 158,976.00, the Jamaica Stock Exchange combined index dived 50.39 points to close at 170,310.33 and the junior market index rose 19.29 points to 2,226.92.
JSE majors slipped on Monday
Kingston Wharves traded at a new high of $17.01 on Monday.
At the close of trading, the JSE Market Index declined by 65.76 points to end at 159,243.60. The all Jamaica Composite Index lost 73.54 points to close at 176,924.36 and the JSE combined index fell 331.28 points, to end at 170,360.72 as the junior market gained strongly, thus negating some of the main market fall.
At the close of the market prices of 10 securities gained out of a total of 34 that traded, with 14 declining in
the overall market, including 4 stocks rising and 8 falling, in the junior market. Kingston Wharves closed trading at a 52 weeks’ high with 3,000 shares, to gain 1 cent to end at $17.01.IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 13 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.
In market activity, Berger Paints closed with a loss of 25 cents to trade at $5 with 900 units changing hands, Cable & Wireless traded 290,076 shares and closed 1 cent lower at $1, Caribbean Cement traded 39,257 shares and gained 18 cents to close at $26.39, Grace Kennedy lost 50 cents to end at $43, with 14,672 shares changing hands.
Jamaica Broilers had 183,000 shares changing hands, to end with a loss of 8 cents at $14.52. Jamaica Producers gained 6 cents to end at $8.41 with 21,200 units trading, Jamaica Stock Exchange ended with 3,400 units changing hands to close at $21.25, JMMB Group traded 26,082 units at $10. National Commercial Bank had 7,348 units changing hands to close at $40. Pan Jamaican Investments dropped $1.19 to close at $23.80 after trading 6,687 shares, Radio Jamaica gained 4 cents in trading 3,000 shares, to end at $1.60, Sagicor Group had 20,255 shares changing hands, at $22, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 13,817 shares to close at $10. Scotia Group gained 65 cents to close at $30.15 with 16,200 shares changing hands, Scotia Investments had 4,188 units changing hands at $26 for a rise of 50 cents and Proven Investments traded 43,250 ordinary shares at 20 US cents.
