Stocks suffered more than a 16,600 points swing in trading on Monday after the Main Market stocks jumped 4,268 points to a multi-month high of 452,388.58 after 14 minutes of the markets opening as the All Jamaican Composite Index plunged 12,364.61 points from Friday’s close to close at 435,756.44 on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market.
The JSE Main Index dropped 11,219.79 points to 396,803.23 and the JSE Financial Index declined 2.16 points to t 98.23.
Trading ended with 52 securities from 53 on Friday and closed with 17 stocks rising, 21 declining and 14 remaining unchanged. The PE Ratio, based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2021-22 earnings, averages 16.5.
Trading ended with the volume rising 124 percent with the value being 399 percent higher than on Friday.
The market closed with 37,973,727 shares trading for $706,200,616 compared to 16,976,414 units at $141,423,527 on Friday. Sagicor Select Financial Fund led trading with 33 percent of total volume after trading 12.54 million shares followed by Wigton Windfarm 16.9 percent with 6.40 million units, Caribbean Cement with 9.3 percent, with 3.52 million units. Sagicor Select Manufacturing & Distribution Fund accounted for 8.5 percent for an exchange of 3.24 million units, Sagicor Group with 4.9 percent for 1.86 million units, Carreras with 4.6 percent for 1.74 million units, Scotia Group with 3.4 percent market share for 1.28 million units, QWI Investments with 3 percent for 1.14 million units, Transjamaican Highway with 2.7 percent for 1.02 million units and Grace Kennedy with 2.7 percent for 1.01 million units changing hands.
Trading averaged 730,264 units at $13,580,781, compared to an average of 320,310 shares at $2,668,368 on Friday. April averaged 234,200 units at $1,772,561.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading has five stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close, Caribbean Cement slipped $1 to $87 with an exchange of 3,518,333 shares, Carreras lost 80 cents to close at $9.15 with the swapping of 1,740,765 stock units, Eppley declined 20 cents to settle at $34.50 trading 1,453 units, First Rock Capital advanced $1.14 to $18.59 with 65,455 stocks changing hands. Jamaica Broilers rose $2.49 to close at $30.99 with investors switching ownership of 778,063 stock units, Jamaica Producers fell $1 to close at $27 in the transfer of 5,547 units, Jamaica Stock Exchange shed 90 cents in closing at $17.05, with 10,542 stocks clearing the market, Margaritaville declined $1 ending at 52 weeks’ low of $20 with 4,005 units changing hands, Mayberry Investments gained 54 cents to close at $5.90 in transferring 579,433 stocks. Mayberry Jamaican Equities finished $1.04 higher at $8.99 in an exchange of 74,861 shares, NCB Financial fell $1 to $138 with an exchange of 941,639 stocks, Palace Amusement dropped $29.50 to $850.50 in switching ownership of 303 stock units. Portland JSX ended $2.64 lower at $7.11 with the transfer of 9,000 shares, Proven Investments rose 23 cents to $38 in the swapping of 16,207 units, Sagicor Group slid $5 in closing at $47.50 with 1,858,449 shares crossing the market. 
Salada Foods gained $1.74 in ending at a record close of $9.15 in an exchange of 128,211 stock units, Scotia Group shed $2.50 to close at $39.50 in trading 1,279,986 shares. Seprod fell 55 cents to end at $79.45 after 50,221 stock units cleared the market and Stanley Motta lost 40 cents to close at $5.50 with an exchange of 50,000 shares.
In the preference segment, Eppley 7.5% preference share rose 94 cents to end at 52 weeks’ high of $7.19 with 967 shares changing hands, Eppley 8.25% closed 90 cents higher at $7 with 4,059 stock units crossing the market and JMMB Group 7.15% – 2028 gained 30 cents ending at $3 with 100 stock units clearing the market.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Trading ended with five securities changing hands, compared to five on Friday with two stocks rising and three declining.
Margaritaville rose 1 cent to close at 9 US cents, with 1,690 shares crossing the exchange, Proven Investments fell 0.49 of a cent to 25.51 US cents and trading 22,793 stock units and Transjamaican Highway fell 0.01 of a cent to end at 0.9 of a US cent in an exchange of 525,000 stock units.
Just 15 securities changing hands compared to 17 on Friday, with three rising, five declining and seven remaining unchanged. The Composite Index fell 0.57 points to 1,331.33, the All T&T Index gained 0.31 points to end at 1,782.06 and the Cross-Listed Index shed 0.21 points to close at 118.98.
Grace Kennedy dropped 1 cent to close at $4.90 trading 3,000 shares, Guardian Holdings lost 6 cents in closing at $25.55 with the swapping of 3,185 stock units, JMMB Group rose 1 cent to $1.80 after an exchange of 60,658 units. Massy Holdings lost 2 cents to end at $63.97 trading 3,000 stocks, National Flour Mills advanced 5 cents in ending at $2.40 in trading 108,623 stock units, One Caribbean Media remained at $4.50 with the swapping of 1,600 stocks. Republic Financial Holdings fell 46 cents in closing at $132.52, with 4,800 shares crossing the market, Scotiabank ended at $54.65 in switching 1,232 units, Trinidad & Tobago NGL remained at $13.50 trading 9,023 stocks. Unilever Caribbean remained at $16.33 after exchanging 9,100 shares and West Indian Tobacco fell 2 cents to close at $32.96, with 1,349 stocks changing hands.
The company, in its annual report for 2020 in commenting on the decline in traffic on Highway2000, states, the “effects of the health measures implemented are still being felt on our traffic at the start of 2021, traffic being falling 9 percent below for January and February when compared to the same period of 2020, which were not impacted by the pandemic. We are, however, optimistic that greater levels of recovery will be recognized as the traffic at the end of March 2021 was 6.8 percent above that of March 2020, when the pandemic first hit.” While the directors sound optimistic, the March 2021 recovery does not look exciting and would represent a decline of 11.5 percent compared with traffic for 2019 that would make the company worse off than in January and February this year, with the fall of 9 percent versus the first two months of 2020 with increases of 2.1 percent.
“The trend observed for June 2020 is down 17.3 percent when compared to the previous year, confirms a gradual recovery in traffic and is anticipated to continue in the next weeks.”
The highlight of the stock market this past week was the 216 percent surge in
There are no changes to companies on the ICTOP10 listings this week. The bullish tone of the Junior Market and the Main Market continues, with more gains expected in the coming week supported by strong technical signals and fundamentals of stocks and the overall market.
The targeted PE ratio for the market averages 20 based on profits of companies reporting full year’s results, up to the second quarter of 2022. Fiscal 2020-21 ended March 2021 with the average PE at 17 for Junior Stocks and 19 times for the Main Market. With interest rates on government paper below 5 percent and likely to remain there for a few years, the likelihood is for the average PE ratios to climb higher during the next twelve months.
The Main Market TOP 10 trades at a PE of 7.7 or 46 percent of the PE of that market and well off the potential of 20.
