Early morning trading pushed the index above Monday’s close for the Jamaica Stock Exchange Junior Market on Tuesday to 2,556.57, but the market failed to hold on to the gains and closed the day with a modest fall after more stocks declined than rose, with 12 percent fewer shares traded than Monday.
Trading ended with 33 securities changing hands compared to 37 on Monday and closed with the prices of 11 stocks rising, 14 declining and eight remaining unchanged. Dolphin Cove closed at a 52 weeks’ low of $5.50.
At the close, the Junior Market Index shed 11.88 points to settle at 2,529.92. The average PE Ratio ended at 12.6 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
Trading ended with an exchange of 5,272,918 shares for $15,658,293 compared to 5,999,938 units at $21,980,840 on Monday. Lasco Financial led trading with 38.7 percent of total volume for 2.04 million shares, followed by Mailpac Group with 20.3 percent after an exchange of 1.07 million and Jamaican Teas with 9.1 percent market share for 482,354 units.
Trading averaged of 159,785 units at $474,494 in contrast to 162,160 at $594,077 on Monday. Trading month to date, averaged 195,107 units at $565,977 compared to 197,311 units at $571,684 on Monday. Trading in October averaged 230,868 units at $535,509.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows five stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and none with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial dropped $1.60 to $20.10 after trading 8,243 shares, AMG Packaging gained 5 cents to settle at $1.60, with 24,839 stock units changing hands, Cargo Handlers lost 65 cents to close at $6.95, trading 110 units. Caribbean Assurance Brokers gained 24 cents to end at $1.90, with the switching ownership of 7,667 units, Caribbean Cream rose 6 cents to $4, after exchanging 137,172 shares, Caribbean Flavours picked up 13 cents to close at $1.70, in exchanging 96,197 shares. Caribbean Producers lost 3 cents to finish at $2.32, with an exchange of 216 units, Dolphin Cove dropped $1.40 to a 52 weeks’ low of $5.50, after trading 47,147 shares, Everything Fresh lost 5 cents to end at 73 cents with 686 units passing through the market. Express Catering gained 24 cents to close at $3.98, in trading 5,010 units, Fontana gained 8 cents and closed at $5.08, in the transfer of 292,599 shares, Fosrich fell 49 cents to $4 after exchanging 75,552 shares. General Accident lost 10 cents in closing at $6.10, with 27,042 stock units crossing the market, GWest Corporation fell 12 cents to 65 cents, trading 10,000 units, Indies Pharma lost 8 cents in closing at $2.43 and finishing with 13,100 units changing hands.
ISP Finance gained 11 cents to end at $16.11, after crossing the market with 22,879 stock units, Jamaican Teas shed 35 cents to close at $6.50, in the trading of 482,354 shares, Knutsford Express advanced 94 cents to $6.65, in exchanging 100 units. Lasco Distributors picked up 1 cent to end at $3.15, in the transferring of 14,129 stock units, Lasco Manufacturing gained 9 cents ending at $3.85, with 10,229 stock units passing through the market, Lumber Depot lost 8 cents to close at $1.21 after exchanging 235,357 shares. Mailpac Group ended 1 cent lower at $2.16 trading 1,071,273 shares, Paramount Trading fell 5 cents to settle at $1.30, with an exchange of 29,900 stock units, Tropical Battery gained 3 cents to close at $1.19, in crossing the market with 176,737 shares and tTech fell 8 cents to $4.87, with 50 units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
At the close of the market, trading ended with four securities changing hands compared to five on Monday and ended with the prices of one rising, one declining and two remaining unchanged.
At the close of the market, First Rock Capital Investment gained 0.05 of a cent and closed at 8.65 US cents in an exchange of 1,055 units, Productive Business Solutions remained at 66 US cents, with 51 units changing hands, Proven Investments lost 0.48 of a cent to end at 25.50 US cents, in trading 300 units and Transjamaican Highway remained at 0.85 of 1 US cent after a transfer of 200,000 shares.
One Caribbean Media lost 3 cents trading 2,000 units to close at $4.82, Republic Financial Holdings declined by $2.50 to settle at $136, in transferring 1,390 units. Scotiabank slipped 25 cents to $54, in exchanging 10,000 stock units, Trinidad and Tobago NGL lost 50 cents to a 52 weeks’ low of $14.50 trading 3,310 units and West Indian Tobacco fell 94 cents to $32.50, with 3,959 units changing hands.
It is against that background that the former highflier and Jamaica Stock Exchange-listed 
Trading ended with 37 companies changing hands compared to 31 on Friday and concluded with the prices of 17 stocks rising, prices of 16 falling and four with prices ending unchanged.
The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows seven stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
Fontana dropped 25 cents in an exchange of 155,964 shares to finish at $5, Fosrich jumped 50 cents to end at $4.49 with investors switching 200,348 stocks, General Accident fell 25 cents to $6.20, with 39,893 shares changing hands. GWest Corporation gained 7 cents, trading 291,760 units to close at 77 cents, iCreate gained 2 cents to finish at 62 cents with 30,000 stocks passing through the market, ISP Finance shed $5 to end at $16 with a transfer of 2,050 shares. Jamaican Teas traded 1,920,968 units and climbed 15 cents to $6.85, Jetcon Corporation increased by 9 cents to close at 84 cents with an exchange of 1,200 stocks, Knutsford Express dropped 29 cents to $5.71 with 5,815 shares changing hands. Lasco Distributors slipped 1 cent to $3.14 with 67,815 units traded, Lasco Financial lost 6 cents to end at $2.60 with 8,200 stock units passing through the market, Lasco Manufacturing declined 3 cents to $3.76 with investors switching ownership of 15,273 shares. Limners and Bards fell 14 cents to $2.45 with an exchange of 265,595 units, Lumber Depot gained 9 cents to finish at $1.29 with 500,326 stock units changing hands, Mailpac Group traded 531,308 shares and rose 2 cents to end at $2.17. Main Event advanced 41 cents to $3.40 with 3,800 units changing owners, Medical Disposables declined 10 cents to $4.20 with a transfer of 10,664 stock units, SSL Venture gained 5 cents to finish at 58 cents with an exchange of 900 shares. Stationery and Office Supplies increased by 5 cents to $4.55 with 4,244 stock units changing hands, Tropical Battery lost 4 cents to settle at $1.16 with investors switching ownership of 218,622 stocks and tTech dropped 5 cents to close at $4.95 with 550 shares changing hands.
At the close, the All Jamaican Composite Index rose 204.81 points to 425,953.79, the Main Index advanced by 284.47 points to 388,747.9 and the JSE Financial Index gained 0.31 points to settle at 102.82.
Transjamaican Highway controlled a 12.7 percent market share with 3.54 million units and Sagicor Select Manufacturing & Distribution Fund accounted for 3.6 percent of the day’s trade in closing with one million units changing hands.
Mayberry Jamaican Equities shed 80 cents to settle at $7, after transferring 3,098 units, NCB Financial declined $1.48 to$148.50, in crossing the exchange with 714,826 shares, Palace Amusement climbed $34.99 to $1,300, with 2 units changing hands. Salada Foods fell $2.50 to $25, with 5,139 stock units crossing the market, Scotia Group rose 85 cents to end at $46.85, exchanging 10,778 shares and Seprod gained $1 to close at $63 trading 19,472 stock units.
Five securities changed hands on Monday compared to two on Friday and closed with the prices of one stock rising, three falling and one remained unchanged.
At the close of the market, First Rock Capital Investment remained at 8.6 US cents after exchanging 1,743 shares, Productive Business Solutions lost 9 US cents to close at 66 US cents, with 609 stock units trading, Proven Investments rose 2.76 US cents to 25.98 US cents after the trading of 31,318 units. Sygnus Credit Investments lost 1.83 US cents to settle at 14.16 US cents while exchanging 6,472 shares and Transjamaican Highway lost 0.04 of a cent and settled at 0.85 of a US cent after exchanging 349,996 units.
The market closed with 14 securities trading, up from twelve on Friday, and ended with four stocks advancing, six declining and four remaining unchanged. Trading resulted in 382,748 shares for $1,536,872.54 compared to 172,050 shares valued $3,148,874 on Friday.
First Citizens Bank fell 25 cents to $43.25, trading 2,694 stock units. JMMB Group lost 3 cents to close at $1.72, with an exchange of 340,668 shares, National Enterprises lost 1 cent to finish at $3.39 and exchanging 1,000 units and Unilever Caribbean ended at $16.79, after losing 1 cent trading 100 shares.
Depreciation jumped 78 percent for the quarter to $20 million and a 58 percent increase to $45 million for the year. Other operating expenses declined 8 percent for the quarter from $118 million to $108 million and saw a 25 percent rise for the year from $262 million to $327 million. Other income for the quarter stood at $7.2 million for the quarter up from just $182,000 and at $7.7 million for the year to date from $54,000 in 2019.
Stocks rose to their highest level since mid-April on the Jamaican Stock Exchange Main Market in the past week, during the past week the Junior Market traded at the highest level in seven weeks, with moves in both markets confirming the bullish signal technical indicators been flashing for weeks.
Eppley lost its Main Market TOP 10 position with the price moving up from $18.97 to $20.02 and is replaced by Jamaica Producers.
The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 15.3 and the Junior Market 13.7, based on ICInsider.com’s projected 2020-21 earnings. The average PE ratio of the Junior Market has been slowly rising, with better profit opportunities than the Main Market and narrowing the gap. The PE ratio for the Junior Market Top 10 stocks average a mere 7.2 at just 53 percent to the average of the Junior Market. The Main Market TOP 10 stocks trade at a PE of 8.7 or 57 percent of the PE of that market.
