Juniors treading water- Wednesday
At the close, 1 security ended with no bid and 7 securities had no stocks being offered for sale. There were 6 stocks closing with bids that were higher than their last selling prices and 5 ended with lower offers.
In trading, Access Financial trading firm with 9,776 units to close at $16.50, AMG Packaging fell 10 cents with 2,270 units changing hands, to end at $13, Caribbean Flavours end trading with 2,000 shares to close at $8.60. Caribbean Producers had 10,577 units changing hands to close with a gain of 20 cents at $4.80, Consolidated Bakeries traded 100 units to close with a gain of 20 cents at $1.60, General Accident traded 11,484 units but fell 20 cents to end at $2.80. Honey Bun traded 39,099 shares to close at $14, Jamaican Teas lost 60 cents and ended with 36,398 units changing hands at $7, Lasco Distributors closed with 1,209,662 units trading, to end at $5.50. Lasco Financial rose by 10 cents and ended at $3.20 with 30,096 shares changing hands, Lasco Manufacturing ended trading with 1,077,383 shares to close at $4 and tTech traded 12,538 shares to close with a loss of 6 cents at $4.61.
Advancers overpower decliners on TTSE – Wednesday
The Composite Index advanced by 1.64 points to close at 1,169.27, the All T&T Index gained 0.06 points to close at 1,898.07 and the Cross Listed Index gained 0.43 points to close at 58.36.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator has turned negative with 5 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 10 with offers that were lower.
Gains|Grace Kennedy jumped 10 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $5, while trading 2,481 shares. Grace closed at the equivalent of J$94 much higher than the $83 the stock traded at in Kingston on Wednesday. National Commercial Bank gained 5 cents in trading 16,096 shares, to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $2.45, Prestige Holdings traded 500 shares as the price rose of 1 cent to end at a 52 weeks’ high of $11.02 and Republic Financial Holdings gained 1 cent to close at $112.15 with 275 shares changing hands.
Losses| West Indian Tobacco traded 1,018 shares to close at $126.28 after slipping 1 cent.
Firm Trades|Ansa Merchant Bank traded 1,400 units at $38.95, Clico Investments lost 1 cents in trading 11,760 shares to close at $22.50, First Citizens traded 10,000 shares at $35, Guardian Media ended trading with 2,152 shares changing hands at $19.75, JMMB group traded 100,000 shares at 60 cent. Point Lisas closed with 570 shares trading to close at $4, Sagicor Financial Corporation closed with 15,000 shares changing hands at $7 and Trinidad and Tobago NGL closed at $19 with 4,700 units trading.
Interest rates drop
Interest rates payable on the latest round of Treasury bill instrument offered by the Government of Jamaica, declined but the 28 days instrument plummeted by 50 basis points to 5.54 percent from 6.04 percent out come at the January auction.
The 182 days instrument fell by 21 basis points to 5.73 percent but the 91 days instrument climbed back above the 6 percent mark to end at 6 percent, up from 5.94 percent in January.
Treasury bill Interest rates are coming from a high of 9.11 percent on the 182 days instrument, in March 2014 and has been falling since. The latest rates are the lowest since the early 1980s.
The issues were for a total of $400 million each, with the 28 days instrument attracting $569,799,800, the 91 days one pulling in only $418,580,000 and the 182 days instrument attracting $671,724,700.
JSE’s main indices get hit – Wednesday
The Jamaica Stock Exchange continues to struggle in the early morning session on Wednesday with very moderate trading as investors continue to digest results of companies and the impact of the change in government.
After 75 minutes of the market opening, 27 securities traded, accounting for only 1,657,243 shares changing hands. A total of 7 stocks declined and 10 rose.
The all Jamaica Composite Index dived 1,047.22 points to 170,499.09, the JSE Market Index dropped 937.06 points to 153,498.11, the JSE combined index lost 830.99 points to 162,383.22 and the junior market index rose 5.81 points to 1,953.80.
Lasco Distributors traded steady with 763135 at $5.50, Caribbean Cement rose $1.55 with 104,207 shares to trade at $22.05, JMMB Group traded 254,607 units at $10.50, Jamaica Producers traded 40,581 shares but lost $1 to be trading at $29 and Scotia Investments traded 100,000 to recover from $26.63 at the close on Tuesday to $28.
4 new highs on TTSE – Tuesday
The Composite Index advanced by 7.67 points to close at 1,167.63, the All T&T Index declined by 1.95 points to close at 1,898.01 and the Cross Listed Index gained 2.37 points to close at 57.93.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator has turned negative with 2 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 10 with offers that were lower.
Gains| FirstCaribbean International Bank traded 8,000 shares and jumped 44 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $6, Grace Kennedy jumped 19 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $4.90 while trading 2,500 shares, National Flour with 2,056 shares changing hands closed with a gain of 1 cent at $1.81. Sagicor Financial Corporation closed with 41,680 shares changing hands to gain 28 cents at a 52 weeks’ high of $7 and Scotia Investments traded 94,864 shares with a gain of 1 cent to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $1.81.
Losses| Clico Investments lost 1 cents in trading 16,088 shares to close at $22.50, Massy Holdings ended with 1,860 shares changing hands as the price slipped $1 to end at a 52 weeks’ low of $58. Republic Financial Holdings lost 1 cent to close at $112.14 with 1,570 shares changing hands and West Indian Tobacco traded 181 shares to close at $126.29 after slipping 1 cent.
Firm Trades| First Citizens traded 55 shares at $35, JMMB group traded 100,000 shares at 60 cents, National Commercial Bank traded 32,980 shares to close at $2.40 and Trinidad and Tobago NGL closed at $19 with 5,000 units trading.
JSE’s 2nd day of big hits – Tuesday
The Jamaica Stock Exchange continues to struggle in the early morning session on Tuesday with low trading interest as some companies in the main market report profits that are at levels that do lend strength to the current prices. The market may also be showing uncertainty with the change in government as investors await clear signals of the economic direction of the new government.
After 75 minutes of the market opening, 34 securities traded, accounting for only 2,183,719 shares changing hands. A total of 15 stocks declined and 7 rose.
The all Jamaica Composite Index dived 1,901.51 points to 172,175.07, the JSE Market Index dropped 1,701.49 points to 154,997.79, the JSE combined index lost 1,568.71 points to 163,779.61 and the junior market index rose 3.94 points to 1,951.85.
Caribbean Cement fell $4 with 28,835 shares to trade at $20, after the company reported full year results to December last year with earnings of $1.82 after exceptional charges. Gleaner Company traded 990,620 and declined 32 cents after falling by 35 cents in yesterday morning session and now trades at $1.98. Jamaica Broilers fell $1 to $13.50 JMMB Group declined 42 cents to $10.58 the Jamaica Stock Exchange is down 50 cents to $23 and Mayberry Investments traded 401,938 units and lost 29 cents to $4.51 in response to 2015 results that melted away in the final quarter with heavy investment portfolio losses.
Flat trading for juniors – Tuesday
The junior market eked out a meagre gain on Tuesday although declining stocks exceeded advancing ones by a wide margin. The market gained a mere 0.08 points to end at 1,947.99 with 13 securities trading of which 8 declined and 4 advanced, including 1 of that traded at a 52 weeks’ high. The market ended with 534,537 units changing hands, valued at $3,813,759.
At the close, 2 securities ended with no bid and 6 securities had no stocks being offered for sale. There were 7 stocks closing with bids that were higher than their last selling prices and 2 ended with lower offers.
In trading, Access Financial declined by $1 in trading 2,550 units to close at $16.50, Blue Power rose by $1.70 with 188,655 units changing hands, to end at $11, after it posted profits of $25 million in the January quarter, $13 million more than the comparative period last year. Caribbean Cream lost 52 cents while trading 1,000 shares to close at $3.73. Caribbean Producers had 9,352 units changing hands to close a gain of 5 cents at $4.60, Consolidated Bakeries traded 16,000 units to close with a loss of 10 cents at $1.40, General Accident traded 5,000 units at a 52 weeks’ high of $3 with a gain of 20 cents. Honey Bun traded 27,600 shares to gain 20 cents and close at $14, Jamaican Teas lost 10 cents and ended with 2,484 units changing hands at $7.60, KLE Group closed at $1.90 with 32,420 shares changing hands with a loss of 30 cents. Lasco Distributors closed with 108,550 units trading, to end at $5.50, Lasco Financial ended at $3.10 with 22,622 shares changing hands, after falling by 13 cents, Lasco Manufacturing ended trading with 118,104 shares and lost 10 cents to close at $4 and tTech traded 200 shares to close with a loss of 18 cents at $4.67.