On Wednesday, the Jamaican dollar slipped slightly against the US dollar and aggressively against the British pound and Canadian dollar, as purchases of all currencies by dealers amounted to the equivalent of US$29,494,214 compared with US$37,319,246, on Tuesday and selling of the equivalent of US$33,928,300 versus sale of US$36,844,761, previously.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$27,139,403 compared to US$32,364,099 on Tuesday. The buying rate for the US dollar fell 4 cents to $115.42 and US31,570,143 was sold versus US$33,685,585 on Tuesday, the selling rate was up 5 cents to $115.97. The Canadian dollar buying rate declined 93 cents to $94.27 with dealers buying C$711,704 and selling C$646,108, at an average rate that rose $1.06 to $96.91. 
The rate for buying the British Pound increased $1.27 to $179.03 for the purchase of £1,032,769, while £754,408, was sold, at an average rate that rose $98 cents to $181.13. At the end of trading it took J$130.37 to purchase the Euro, $1.17 more than on Tuesday, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$127.91 for an increase of $1.19 on Tuesday’s rate. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$171,509, while the equivalent of US$639,991, was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, rose 13 cents to $116.25. The lowest buying rate added $4.27 to $94.77 and highest selling rate increased $4.46 to $125.90, while the lowest selling rate jumped $18.69 to $113.30. 
The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar rose 40 cents to $97.05. The lowest buying rate was up 50 cents to $76.36, the highest selling rate rose 93 cents $99.07 and the lowest selling rate climbed 30 cents to $92. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, climbed 60 cents to $182.60, the lowest buying rate gained $4.65 to $145.75, the highest selling rate rose $2.50 to $187.89 with the lowest selling rate rising 50 cents to $174.
J$ declines on Wednesday
Juniors closed at new high
At the end of trading on Wednesday the Junior Market index had its third consecutive day of rising prices, to end at a new record of 868.99, at 8.03 points ahead of Tuesday’s record close. With 10 securities trading, the market ended with 707,451 units changing hands valued at $2,938,261. The JSE Junior Market close with the price of 5 stocks advancing and 1 declining including 1 closing at a 52 weeks’ high.
At the close, there were 3 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and only 1 with a lower offer, this is an early sign that investors may be cooling their aggressive stance in picking up stocks. The junior market ended with 3 securities closing with no bids to buy and 7 securities that had no stocks being offered for sale.
Stocks trading in the junior market are, Cargo Handlers having 10,000 shares trading to close at $22.08, Caribbean Cream closed with 1,495,613 shares trading at $1.05, Caribbean Producers with 147,200 shares trading at $2.88, General Accident Insurance concluded trading with 86,000 shares changing hands to close 10 cents higher at a new 
52 weeks’ high of $2.15. Honey Bun ended with 10,800 shares changing hands to close higher by 20 cents at $2.90, Jamaican Teas ended trading with 5,000 shares after adding 15 cents to end at $2.90, Lasco Distributors finished trading with 11,219 shares to closed at $1.70, Lasco Financial Services finished trading with 89,336 units, the price rose 8 cents to $1.45. There was dealing in 212,781 Lasco Manufacturing’s shares, the stock traded lower by 5 cents to $1.35 and Medical Disposables contributed 31,415 shares with the price remaining unchanged at $1.80.
JSE cooled but 16 stocks still rise
NCB gained $1.01 to close at a new 41/2 years’ high of $31.01
The JSE Market Index declined 29.63 points to 99,094.91, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell 33.14 points to close at 109,510.99 and the JSE combined index gained 49.81 points to close at 101,299.90, the latter due to the rise of junior market stocks.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 8 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with offers that were lower. This reading is well down from the double digits bids being higher for several days and may be an indication that price gains going forward for now may be cooling, that is the norm after results are out for the first quarter.
Another indicator of a slowing market is the number of new 52 weeks’ high have slowed with just 1 in the junior market and 3 in the main market.Stocks changing hands includes, Cable & Wireless that traded 549,019 units to close unchanged at 48 cents, Caribbean Cement closed with 120,167 units trading, falling by 55 cents to $4.50, Carreras ended with a rise of 89 cents to $49 with 19,919 shares, Desnoes & Geddes traded 170,755 units at $7.11 up by 9 cents. Grace Kennedy traded unchanged at $65 with 46,504 shares, Jamaica Broilers closed down by 9 cents to end at $5.16 after trading at an intraday 52 weeks’ high of $5.50 with 95,942 shares being active, Jamaica Producers traded 8,502 shares at $18.52 and gained 2 cents. JMMB Group closed with 66,855 shares trading at a new 52 weeks’ high of $9.55 after gaining 5 cents, Kingston Wharves had 49,000 units trading to end 10 cents higher at $6.12,
National Commercial Bank closed $1.01 higher to a new 52 weeks’ high with 1,257,840 shares and ended at $31.01, after trading most at $30 and $30.50. Pan Jamaican closed with 17,824 units trading to end higher by 30 cents at $58.11. Proven Investments had 46,355 shares changing hands at 21 US cents, Radio Jamaica had just 2,936 units trading, to end at a new 52 weeks’ high of $2.40 as the stock gained 21 cents, at the close. Sagicor Group traded 113,272 shares to end higher by 6 cents at $12.16, Salada Foods had 40,000 units trading to end at $9, having fallen by 50 cents, Scotia Group traded 341,246 shares to close at $26 for a gain of 97 cents and Supreme Ventures had 100,000 units trading to end at $3.95.
4 stocks gains on TTSE Wednesday
Sagicor Financial gained 10 cents to end at $6
At the close of the market, the Composite Index advanced by 0.17 points to close at 1,154.45, the All T&T Index added just 0.14 points to close at 1,968.54 and the Cross Listed Index increased by 0.02 points to end at 44.63
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, ANSA McAL that gained 1 cent in closing at $67.02 with 290 shares changing hands, Clico Investment Fund ended with 60,533 shares trading, valued at $1,368,305 but gained 5 cents to end at $22.60. Massy Holdings had 76,650 shares changing hands for a value of $4,871,107 to end 7 cents higher, at $63.55 and Sagicor Financial Corporation ended with 24,892 shares carrying a value of $147,693 to end with a 10 cents gain, at $6.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, First Citizens Bank trading 4,349 shares to close at $35.80, One Caribbean Media ended with just 50 shares changing hands at $22.30, Prestige Holdings closed with 1,050 share trading to end at $10. Republic Bank added 14,539 shares valued at $1,671,985 to close at $115, Scotiabank contributed 3,919 shares, to end at $62.51, Scotia Investments ended with 2,000 shares trading at $1.50 and Trinidad Cement ended up with 13,000 units at $2.80.IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 7 stocks with the bid higher than their last selling prices and 1 with a lower offer.
Juniors a new record on Wednesday
Jamaican stocks prices are still cruising on a high with the junior market hitting 
new high for the third day in a row and the main market continuing to move away from resistance heading towards 115,000 point, the next major level to cross.
The junior market has so far traded 10 securities and the main market 19 securities trading and resulted in 4.58 million units changing hands. A total of 18 stocks rose in price and 2 declined so far.
National Commercial Bank with 1,249,594 shares trading up to $31 is the big trade of the day so far, Jamaica Broilers Group traded 76,652 units up $5.5o for a 52 weeks’ high.
National Flour Q1 profit is Buy Rated
National Flour closed at a 52 weeks’ high of $1.70 Tuesday.
Earnings per share ended at 7 cents for the quarter, if the trend continues the company should generate around 30 cents per share in profits for 2015.
The 2015 results flowed from a 21 percent increase in revenues to reach $121.5 million. Improved efficiency resulted in gross profit margin jumping to 24.5 percent from 18 percent in 2014. Administrative expenses jumped sharply in the quarter over that of 2014 by 77 percent to $11.9 million, while selling and distribution cost rose by 20.5 percent to $7.9 million.
National Flour generated $14.9 million in cash flows in the quarter but used it to fund increased working capital needs. In Addition it used up some of the cash funds it had on hand at the end of 2014 totalling $43 million to pay down the loans, reducing loans from $122 million to $94 million, leaving $19 million in cash at the end of March.
The stock which is listed on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock exchange closed on Tuesday at $1.70 but is selling at a low PE of just 5.6 times this year’s earnings, making it extremely cheap based on Trinidad’s usually high multiples that tends to be in the high teens.
Based on the 2015 results reported and our projection for the full year, IC Insider has elevated the National Flour status, to Buy Rated.
Healthy flows but J$ slips Tuesday
On Tuesday, the Jamaican dollar slipped slightly against the US dollar and aggressively against the British pound and Canadian dollar as purchases of all currencies by dealers amounted to the equivalent of US$37,319,246 compared with US$51,284,150, on Monday and selling of the equivalent of US$36,844,761 versus sale of US$40,876,396, previously.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$32,364,099 compared to US$46,738,177 on Monday. The buying rate for the US dollar rose 10 cents to $115.46 and US$33,685,585 was sold versus US$38,332,897 on Monday, the selling rate was up 6 cents to $115.92. The Canadian dollar buying rate rose $1.22 to $95.20 with dealers buying C$2,449,582 and selling C$2,136,624, at an average rate that rose 49 cents to $95.85. 
The rate for buying the British Pound increased $2.43 to $177.76 for the purchase of £1,333,135, while £480,156, was sold, at an average rate that rose $1.79 to $180.15. At the end of trading it took J$129.20 to purchase the Euro, 77 cents less than on Monday, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$126.71 for a fall of 71 cents from Monday’s rate. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$882,881, while the equivalent of US$646,260, was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, rose 2 cents to $116.12. The lowest buying rate dropped $4.11 to $90.50 and highest selling rate remained at $121.44, while the lowest selling rate declined $18.69 to $94.61.
The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar rose 90 cents to $96.65. The lowest buying rate was unmoved at $75.86, the highest selling rate dropped 62 cents $98.14 and the lowest selling rate climbed 30 cents to $91.70. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, climbed $1.35 to $182, the lowest buying rate remained at $141.10, the highest selling rate rose $2.17 to $185.39 with the lowest selling rate rising $3.50 to $173.50.
16 stocks rise 5 down on JSE
JMMB Group closed at 52 weeks’ high on Tuesday
The JSE Market Index gained 413.98 points to end at 99,124.54, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 462.85 points to close at 109,544.13 and the JSE combined index gained 544.39 points to close at 101,253.09. The market broke through resistance on Monday, and seems to be moving away from the latest test. The next test at 115,000 points that is likely to challenge the rally with earnings almost fully in in a few days.
The added factor is the short-term moving average is lagging by a large margin the current market level and they will need some time to catch up with each other, if a correction does not take effect to bring more in line with each other.IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 11 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 with offers that were lower.
Stocks trading include Barita Investments ending with 320,000 shares trading 6 cents higher, at $2.37, for a 52 weeks’ high. Berger Paints had 20,571 units changing hands 16 cents $2, Cable & Wireless had 727,789 actively trading at 48 cents as the price ended 2 cents higher, Caribbean Cement closed at a new 52 weeks high of $5.05 with the price rising 51 cents with 671,498 shares changing hands.
Desnoes & Geddes closed with 15,000 shares to hit a 52 weeks’ high of $7.05 after posting a gain of 15 cents, Grace Kennedy traded 16,875shares to end at $65 but lost 49 cents, JMMB Group had 36,078 shares changing hands at 41 cents higher for a 52 weeks high of $9.50. National Commercial Bank traded 72,619 shares at $30, Sagicor Group exchanged 16,187 units at $12.10 with a gain of 10 cents, Salada Foods traded 5,910 units and put on 83 cents to $9.50, Scotia Group had 41,000 shares changing hands to close 1 cents higher at $25.03 after trading as high as $27, 81. Supreme Ventures traded 179,873 shares at a new 52 weeks; high of $3.95 by adding 6 cents. Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 42,000 units at $2.10 but ended 1 cent lower and the 8.75% preference share traded 376,500 to end at $3, after losing 2 cents.
New record for junior market
Bottle heating machine at Lasco Manufacturing. The company’s closed at a 52 weeks high.
Trading picked up on the Junior Market in the early hours of trading but slowed done considerable thereafter in the end it closed with 11 securities trading, and ended with 707,451 units changing hands valued at $2,017,008. The JSE Junior Market closed with the price of 5 stocks advancing and 3 declining including 4 that closed at 52 weeks’ highs.
At the close of the market, there were 2 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and only 1 with a lower offer. The junior market ended with 3 securities closing with no bids to buy and 7 securities that had no stocks being offered for sale.
Stocks trading in the junior market are, Access Financial trading 39,172 units at $15.10, AMG Packaging ending with 7,830 shares changing hands to close at $3.30, Cargo Handlers finished with 500 units to close at a new high of $22.08, after adding 8 cents. Caribbean Cream with just 100 shares trading, gained 9 cents to close at a new
52 weeks high of $1.05, Caribbean Producers with 248,000 closed at $2.88 but traded the bulk of them at $3, General Accident Insurance concluded trading with 26,000 shares changing hands, to close 23 cents higher, at a new 52 weeks’ high of $2.05. Honey Bun closed trading with 1,200 shares to gain 60 cents and end at $2.70, Knutsford Express closed with 1,000 shares trading at $6. Lasco Distributors ended with 227,498 shares trading, 1 cent higher, at $1.50, Lasco Financial Services finished trading with 55,531 units, the price slipped 7 cents to $1.37 and Lasco Manufacturing closed with 100,620 units at $1.40 to gain 3 cents and closed at a new 52 weeks’ high.
National Flour at new high
IC Insider Buy Rated National Flour closed at a 52 weeks high on Tuesday of $1.70.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index rose by 0.14 points to close at 1,154.28, the All T&T Index gained 0.28 points to close at 1,968.40 and the Cross Listed Index remained at 44.61.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, First Citizens Bank trading 5,904 shares valued at $211,341 to close with a gain of 2 cents, at $35.80. National Flour Mills contributed 6,304 shares and closed with a gain of 6 cents at a new 52 weeks’ high of $1.70. The stock which has the IC Insider Buy Rated status reported a big jump in profit for the March quarter of $9 million compared with just $1.9 million in 2014. Scotiabank with a volume of 20,000 shares being traded for $1,250,200 closed at $62.51, to gain 1 cent and West Indian Tobacco closed with a gain of 2 cents at $125.22 with 2,950 units trading valued at $370,651.
Stocks declining| ANSA McAL traded 719 units, to end 1 cents down at $67.01.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Ansa Merchant Bank had 1,010 shares trading at the close at $38.91, Clico Investment Fund with 214,995 shares valued at $4,848,206 closed at $2.55, JMMB Group traded 142,721 shares at 55 cents, Massy Holdings trading 5,346 shares valued at
$339,144 and closed at $63.43. Republic Bank traded 1,413 shares with a value of $162,495 and closed at $115. Prestige holdings closed trading with 500 units at $10, Praetorian Property Mutual Fund 1,000 units at $3.10, Sagicor Financial Corporation traded 868 shares to close unchanged at $5.90 and Trinidad Cement traded 5,000 units to close at $2.80.IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with the bid higher than their last selling prices and 1with a lower offer.
