Trading in the Jamaican foreign exchange market on Friday resulted in the Jamaican dollar rising modestly in value against the US dollar for the second consecutive day, with the selling rate ending at J$128.41 from J$128.65 previously.
Dealers bought the US currency at an average of J$127.17, versus J$127.26 on Thursday.
For the week inflows totaled US$181 versus US$196 million in the previous week with outflows of US$129 million compared to US$160 million.
Trading ended with inflows of US$32.69 million compared to US$32.08 million on Thursday with Bank of Jamaica is entitled to approximately 25 percent of the inflows or around $8 of the intake. Outflows amounted to only US$19.34 million compared to US$22.79 million of all currencies previously.
In USA dollar trading, inflows ended at US$28.37 million versus US$27.16 million on Thursday with outflows of US$16.32 million compared to US$18.32 million.
The selling rate for the Canadian dollar fell to J$103.11 from J$103.32 at the close on Thursday while the British Pound was more costly, with J$165.59 buying the British currency versus J$163.97 and the euro, fell in value against the Jamaican dollar, with it taking J$150.79 to buy the European common currency, versus J$153.31 previously.
Jamaican$ gains as demand drops – Friday
10 Junior stocks rise 8 fall on Friday
Stationery & Office Supplies traded the most shares on the Junior Market on Friday.
Trading on the Junior market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended on Friday with 22 securities changing hands, 10 advanced, 8 declined and 4 traded firm with 3,210,758 units valued at $13,020,965 compared to 1,314,753 units valued at $5,648,856 on Thursday.
The market index follow up the loss of 27.42 points on Thursday with a moderate fall of 4.08 points to close at 3,082.57. The Junior Trading ended with an average of 145,944 units for an average of $591,862 in contrast to 54,781 units for an average of a mere $235,369 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 269,679 units valued at $1,666,377 compared to 277,412 units valued at $1,733,535 previously. In contrast, July closed with average of 536,395 units at $1,905,441 for each security traded.
Trading ended with the market sentiments still looking mixed, as 4 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, the last traded prices of securities and volume changing hands are, AMG Packaging concluding at $3.48 with 4,000 shares, Blue Power with a loss of $1.50 to settled at $40 with 862 shares, CAC 2000 finished at $7.95 with 5,574 shares, Cargo Handlers climbed 50 cents higher to settle at $10 with 3,064 units, Caribbean Producers gained 20 cents to end at $3.80 with 526,752 stock units. Eppley dropped $1 and ended at $12 with 17,606 shares, Express Catering fell 2 cents to $4.49 with 72,414 shares, Honey Bun climbed 77 cents higher to $5.50 with 34,946 units, Iron Rock fell 22 cents to $2.88 with 94,238 stock units. ISP Finance closed $1 higher to $20 with 6,101 shares, 
Jamaican Teas added 15 cents to finish at $4.90 with 16,266 units, Jetcon Corporation finished at $5 with 119,344 shares, KLE Group rose 15 cents to $2.75 with 154,726 shares, Knutsford Express climbed 80 cents higher and concluded trading at $14.50 with 4,512 shares, Lasco Distributors closed 20 cents higher at $7 with 29,318 shares, Lasco Financial jumped 50 cents higher to $4 with 4,649 shares. Lasco Manufacturing concluded trading at $4.50 with 61,225 shares, Main Event ended with a loss of 5 cents, at $4.50 with 94,318 shares, Medical Disposables closed with a loss of 50 cents at $5 with 6,459 shares, Paramount Trading gave back 40 cents and ended at $2.60 with 10,000 shares, Stationery and Office rose 15 cents to $4 closing with 1,933,085 shares changing hands, including a lot of 1,322,345 units at $3.95 and tTech ended with a loss of $1 at $7 with 11,299 shares.
NCB Financial hits new record
NCB Financial Group reached a new high of $5 (J$95.50) in trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Friday with just 2,920 shares trading with a rise of 15 cents.
The stock closed with 6,830 units on the bid at $5. In overall market activity 14 securities changed hands compared to 12 on Thursday with 3 advancing, 2 declining and 9 holding firm. Trading volume rose over Thursday’s levels reaching 161,029 units at a value of $1,432,085 compared to Thursday’s trades of 102,642 valued at $2,263,862.
The Composite Index gained 1.37 points to 1,237.89, the All T&T Index declined 0.13 points to 1,791.70 and the Cross Listed Index added 0.39 points to 91.84 points.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer ended with 4 stocks with bids higher than last selling prices and 7 with lower offers.
Gains| The last traded prices of securities that rose and the volume changing hands are, First Citizens with a 1 cent gain, closed at $31.68 with 5,300 shares, NCB Financial Group rising 15 cents to $5, gaining with 2,920 shares and Trinidad Cement closing 6 cents higher to $4.20 with 30,000 shares.
Losses| The last traded prices of securities declining and the volume changing hands are, JMMB Group with a loss of 2 cents to $1.23 with 5,000 shares and Trinidad & Tobago NGL slipping 24 cents to $23 with 12,056 shares.
Firm Trades| The last traded prices of securities and the volume traded unchanged at the close of trading are Angostura Holdings closed at $15 with trades of 5,000 shares, Grace Kennedy remaining at $2.85 with 62,114 shares, Guardian Holdings ending at $16.50 with 25,359 shares valued at $418,437, National Enterprises trading 6,795 shares at $10.48. National Flour Mills closing at $2.10 with 1,000 shares, Point Lisas exchanged 3,955 shares at $3.88, Republic Financial Holdings that closed at $101.90 with 100 shares, Sagicor Financial unchanged at $8.30 with 236 shares and Scotiabank closed at $58.02 with 1,194 shares.
10 Junior Market stocks rise 11 fall
Market activity on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange returned to more normal levels after heightened levels on Wednesday closing trading on Thursday with 1,314,753 units valued at $5,648,856 traded.
On Wednesday 26,534,388 units valued at $115,148,200 changed hands.
At the close on Thursday 24 securities changing hands resulting in 10 gaining, 11 falling and 3 trading firm, leading to the market index dropping 27.42 points to 3,086.65.
The Junior Trading ended with an average of just 54,781 units for an average of a mere $235,369 in contrast to 160,538 units for an average of $5,757,410 on Wednesday. 
The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 277,412 units valued at $1,733,535 compared to 292,254 units valued at $1,833,412 previously. In contrast, July closed with average of 536,395 units at $1,905,441 for each security traded.
Trading ended with the market sentiments looking mixed for Friday’s activity, as 3 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers, the same level as Wednesday.
At the close of the market, the last traded prices of securities and volume traded and are: AMG Packaging with a loss of 2 cents, to $3.48 with 11,359 shares, CAC 2000 concluded trading at $7.95 with 1,842 shares, Cargo Handlers ending with a loss of 50 cents, to $9.50 with 4,000 shares, Caribbean Cream with a loss of 69 cents, to close at $5.90 with 147,103 shares. Caribbean Flavours closed at $13 with 750 shares, Caribbean Producers ending with a loss of 1 cent at $3.60 with 9,800 shares, Consolidated Bakeries recovered 45 cents in closing at $2.30 with 4,000 shares, Eppley climbed 61 cents higher and concluded trading at $13 with 700 shares, Express Catering finished with a loss of 49 cents at $4.51 with 110,541 shares, Honey Bun closed with a loss of 27 cents at $4.73 with 850 shares, 
Iron Rock closed 10 cents higher to finish at $3.10 with 2,750 shares, ISP Finance rose 50 cents higher and closed at $19 with 2,000 shares, Jamaican Teas finished with a loss of 43 cents at $4.75 with 11,000 shares, Jetcon Corporation lost 45 cents and closed at $5 with 129,150 shares, KLE Group climbed 34 cents higher and ended at $2.60 with 479,000 shares, Knutsford Express with a loss of 8 cents, finished at $13.70 with 5,879 shares, Lasco Distributors ended 5 cents higher at $6.80 with 112,407 shares, Lasco Financial concluded trading at $3.50 with 11,120 shares, Lasco Manufacturing closed with a loss of 2 cents at $4.50 with 12,148 shares, Main Event with a loss of 45 cents, ended at $4.55 with 5,514 shares, Medical Disposables traded 20 cents higher to $5.50 with 8,973 shares, Paramount Trading gained 10 cents to close at $3 with 7,712 shares, Stationery and Office Supplies climbed 5 cents higher to $3.85 with 222,755 shares and tTech jumped $1.50 higher and finished at $8 with 13,400 shares.
Huge gains push JSE to record high – Thursday
Main market indices of the Jamaica Stock Exchange made huge gains in trading on Thursday, to close at new record highs.
The All Jamaica Composite Index surged 6,467.89 points to a record close of 278,653.42, as the market recovered from near 5,000 points drop on Wednesday. The JSE Market Index leapt 5,892.98 points to a record close of 253,884.83, bettering the record reached August 10 for both indices. The JSE US dollar market index declined 3.84 points to 180.19.
At the close of trading, 23 securities changed hands in the main market with 2 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 11 stocks advancing and 8 declining. The main market ended with 4,236,294 units valued at $109,212,854 changing hands compared to 12,794,782 units valued at $308,295,023 at the close on Wednesday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 26,814 units valued at US$7,765 bringing the total of all trades to J$110,206,772.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 11 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 7 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 184,187 units valued at $4,748,385 for each security traded compared to an average of 473,881 units valued at $11,418,334. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at $193,935 units with an average value of $4,101,515 compared with an average of $194,585 units with an average value of $4,058,391 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for July ended at 160,668 units with an average value of $2,691,438.
At the close of the market, the last traded prices of securities and volume changing hands are, Berger Paints closing at $16.15 after gaining 15 cents with 1,658 shares, Cable and Wireless lost 1 cent to close at $1.14 with 78,544 shares, Caribbean Cement rising $1.51 to $30 with 40,298 shares, Carreras with a loss of 40 cents to $107.60 with 128,994 shares, Grace Kennedy traded 50 cents higher to $41 with 333,520 shares. Jamaica Broilers finished with a loss of 45 cents at $17.05 with 502,272 shares, Jamaica Producers advanced by $1 to $17 with 2,297,691 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $6.19 with gains of 49 cents trading 7,551 shares, JMMB Group gained 50 cents to close at $21.50 with 37,534 shares. Kingston Properties closed at $8 with 1,250 shares, 
Kingston Wharves climbed $2 to $31.50 with only 800 shares, Mayberry Investments rose 32 cents to $4.50 with 20,438 shares, NCB Financial Group traded $1.99 higher to $87.99 with 252,941 shares, 138 Student Living closed at $5.15 trading 7,850 shares, PanJam Investment closed at $33 with 32,820 shares, Portland JSX lost 11 cents, closing at $9.30 with 200 shares. Pulse Investments ended with a loss of 40 cents at $1.80 with 7,800 shares, Radio Jamaica traded 234,820 shares at $1.30, Sagicor Group fell by 60 cents, closing at $31 with 42,184 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund added 1 cent to close at $12.06 in trading 11,185 shares, Scotia Group gained 45 cents and closed at $46.95 with 56,384 shares, Seprod lost 25 cents to close at $29.75 with 56,860 shares, Supreme Ventures held firm at $8.80 with 82,070 shares. Proven Investments US ordinary shares lost US 1 cent and closed at 23 US cents with 25,097 units and JMMB Group US 6% preference share traded at US$1.10 with 1,717 units.
Jamaican$ makes gains – Thursday
Trading in the Jamaican foreign exchange market on Thursday resulted in the Jamaican dollar rising modestly in value against the US dollar, with the selling rate ending at J$128.65 from J$128.73 previously.
Dealers bought the US currency at an average of J$127.26, versus J$127.59 on Wednesday. Trading ended with inflows of US$32.08 million compared to US$35.07 million on Wednesday with Bank of Jamaica is entitled to approximately 25 percent of the inflows or around $8 of the intake. Outflows amounted to US$22.79 million compared to US$29.29 million of all currencies previously.
In USA dollar trading, inflows ended at US$27.16 million versus US$36.43 million on Wednesday with outflows of US$18.32 million compared to US$26.43 million.
The selling rate for the Canadian dollar rose to J$103.32 from J$102.92 at the close on Wednesday while the British Pound was less costly, with J$163.97 buying the British currency versus J$165.58 and the euro, fell in value against the Jamaican dollar, with it taking J$153.31 to buy the European common currency, versus J$153.52 previously.
NCB Financial jumps to record high
NCB Financial traded at new high on the TTSE on Thursday of TT$4.85.
Trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Thursday ended with 12 securities changing hands compared to 9 on Wednesday. NCB Financial Group hit a record high of $4.85 or approximately J$93.
The closing bid and offer suggest that the price could be heading higher in the days ahead.
Market activity led to 4 stocks advancing, 4 declining and 4 holding firm as 102,642 shares traded at a value of $2,263,862 compared to Wednesday’s trading of 213,094 units valued at $1,322,549.
The Composite Index advanced 5.80 points to 1,238.52, the All T&T Index declined 0.48 points to 1,791.83 and the Cross Listed Index gained 1.66 points to 91.45 points.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer ended with 5 stocks with bids higher than last selling prices and 7 with lower offers.
Gains| The volume changing hands and last prices of securities rising are NCB Financial Group climbing to a 52 weeks’ high of $4.85, in gaining 10 cents with 10,000 shares, Prestige Holdings closing at $10.65, up 1 cent, with 4,568 shares, Scotiabank inching 1 cent higher to $58.03 with a mere 20 units and Scotia Investments ending at $2.12, with gains of 2 cents, trading 18,337 shares.
Losses| The volume changing hands and last prices of securities declining are Clico Investment with a loss of 14 cents, closed at a 52 weeks’ low of $20.75 with 1,230 units, First Caribbean International slipping 5 cents to close at $8 with 23,306 stock units,
Massy Holdings closed with a 1 cent loss to $48.99 with 24,556 shares valued at $1,202,024 and Trinidad & Tobago NGL traded 21 cents lower to $23.24 with 1,935 shares.
Firm Trades| The volume changing hands and last prices of securities that were unchanged at the close of trading are, Ansa Merchant Bank closed at $40 with 6,024 shares, First Citizens remained at $31.67 with 2,146 shares, Republic Financial Holdings closed at $101.90 with 2,838 shares and Sagicor Financial was unchanged at $8.30 with 7,502 shares changing hands.
Trading rise on TTSE Wednesday
Only 9 securities changed hands on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Wednesday, the same number as on Tuesday. Trading levels jumped relative Tuesday resulted in trading volumes rising nearly 5 times Tuesday’s and almost twice the value.
At the close, 3 stocks advanced, 2 declined and 4 were unchanged as 213,094 shares traded at a value of $1,322,549 compared to Tuesday’s trading of 38,695 valued at $452,716. Trading was dominated by Massy Holdings and National Enterprises with 38 percent and 32 percent respectively of the traded volume.
The Composite Index rose 2.67 points to 1,230.72, the All T&T Index gained 0.02 points to 1,792.31 and the Cross Listed Index gained 0.73 points to 89.79 points.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer ended with 5 stocks with bids higher than last selling prices and 8 with lower offers.
Gains| Stocks trading with the last prices rising and volumes changing hands are JMMB Group with gains of 5 cents to close at $1.25 with 85,947 shares, Massy Holdings closed at $49, rising 5 cents with 10,345 shares valued at $506,667 and NCB Financial Group closed at a 52 weeks’ high of $4.75, having gained 24 cents trading 1,500 shares.
Losses| Stocks trading with the last prices falling and volumes changing hands are Clico Investment with a loss of 1 cent, closing at a 52 weeks’ low of $20.89 with 5,000 shares and Scotia Investments declining 15 cents to $2.10 with 70,000 shares.
Firm Trades| Stocks trading with last prices remaining unchanged and the volumes changing hands are First Citizens with 455 shares trading at $31.67, National Enterprises remained at $10.48 with 39,025 shares valued at $408,982, Sagicor Financial held firm at $8.30 with 422 shares and Scotiabank closing at $58.02 with 400 shares.
Lasco group trades 24m Junior Market shares
The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed Wednesday with a big surge in trading volume of 26,534,388 units, valued at $115,148,200 compared to 2,495,496 units valued at $13,050,346 on Tuesday. Three Lasco companies accounted for 24 million of the shares trading in the market.
The Junior Market index dipped 13.70 points to end at 3,114.07 as 20 securities changed hands of which 7 advanced, 10 declined and none trading firm.
The Junior Trading ended with an average of 1,841,847 units for an average of $5,757,410 in contrast to 124,775 units for an average of $652, 517 on Tuesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 404,342 units valued at $1,833,412 compared to 301,663 units valued at $1,553,127 previously. 
In contrast, July closed with average of 536,395 units at $1,905,441 for each security traded.
Trading ended with the market sentiments looking mixed for Thursday’s activity, as 3 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, the last traded prices of securities and the volume traded and are: AMG Packaging settling with a loss of 50 cents at $3.50 with 84,705 shares, CAC 2000 ended 10 cents higher at $7.95 with 1,600 shares, Cargo Handlers fell 50 cents and concluded trading at $10 with 1,938 shares, Caribbean Cream ending with a loss of 11 cents, at $6.59 with 120,416 units, Consolidated Bakeries with a loss of 30 cents to $1.85 with 41,650 shares, Dolphin Cove with a loss of 10 cents, to close at $17.40 with 3,387 shares. Express Catering lost 10 cents to end at $5 with 89,449 shares, ISP Finance finished $1.24 higher at $18.50 with 1,440 shares, Jamaican Teas added 3 cents higher to $5.18 with 869,166 shares, 
Corporation concluded trading 4 cents higher t0 $5.45 with 62,479 shares, KLE Group ending with a loss of 24 cents to $2.26 with 535,402 shares, Knutsford Express with a loss of 49 cents, finished at $14.50 with 16,444 shares, Lasco Distributors fell 5 cents and finished at $6.75 with 4,559,191 shares, Lasco Financial traded 12,091,213 shares with a loss of 50 cents to end at $3.50, Lasco Manufacturing ending trading 2 cents higher to $4.52 with 7,446,903 shares. Main Event inched 9 cents higher and finished at $5 with 102,913 shares, Medical Disposables climbed 10 cents to $5.30 with 335 stock units, Paramount Trading ended with a loss of 4 cents, to $2.90 with 70,970 shares, Stationery and Office lost 20 cents, to end trading at $3.80 with 429,587 shares and tTech closed with a loss of 94 cents, to $6.50 with 5,200 shares.
JSE prices drop sharply – Wednesday
The main market indices of the Jamaica Stock Exchange dropped sharply on Wednesday. The All Jamaica Composite Index dived 4,980.99 points to 272,185.53, the JSE Market Index dropped 4,538.24 points to 247,991.85 while the JSE US dollar market index rose 6.51 points to 184.03.
At the close of trading, 27 securities changed hands in the main market with 1 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 10 stocks advancing and 7 declining. The main market ended with 12,794,782 units valued at $308,295,023 changing hands compared to 1,806,656 units valued at $31,094,257 at the close on Tuesday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 300,000 units valued at US$71,995.17 bringing the total of all trades to J$317,510,404.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 7 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 473,881 units valued at $11,418,334 for each security traded compared to an average of 82,121 units valued at $1,413,375. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at $194,585 units with an average value of $4,058,391 compared with an average of $174,635 units with an average value of $3,532,680 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for July ended at 160,668 units with an average value of $2,691,438.
At the close of the market, the last traded prices of securities and volume traded are: Barita Investments with 8,593 shares closing at $11.10, Cable and Wireless falling 5 cents to close at $1.15 with 360,547 shares, Caribbean Cement with a loss of 46 cents to end at $28.49 with 41,516 units. Carreras held firm at $108 with 361,378 shares, Grace Kennedy traded $1.49 lower to $40.50 with 1,509,528 shares, Jamaica Broilers rose 50 cents to $17.50 with 1,513,181 stock units, Jamaica Producers jumped $2 to $16 with 1,572,555 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $5.70 with a loss of 77 cents trading 874,717 shares, JMMB Group fell 20 cents to $21 with 782,429 stock units. Kingston Properties gained 80 cents to close at $8 with 5,729 shares, Kingston Wharves ended at $29.50 with 2,000 shares, Mayberry Investments inched up by 9 cents to $4.18 with 4,000 units, NCB Financial Group dropped $3 to $86 with 1,026,736 shares, 1834 Investments closed with a 1 cent gain at $1.35, trading 5,500 shares, 
PanJam Investment closed at $33 with 9,606 shares, Portland JSX added 11 cents to finish at $9.41 with 789,000 shares. Pulse Investments gained 25 cents to $2.20 with 1,000 shares, Radio Jamaica closed with a loss of 5 cents at $1.30 with 17,096 shares, Sagicor Group added 10 cents in closing at $31.60 with 103,700 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund lost 1 cent to conclude trading at $12.05 while exchanging 3,995 units, Salada Foods closed at $10 with 2,000 shares, Scotia Group gained 50 cents and closed at $46.50 with 169,559 shares, Seprod remained at $30 with 15,925 shares, Sterling Investments traded at $14 with 7,000 shares, Supreme Ventures held firm at $8.80 with 3,589,118 shares. Proven Investments US ordinary shares gained US 1 cent and closed at 24 US cents with 300,000 units, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.5% preference share closed at $1.99 with 13,791 shares and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share lost 1 cent to close at $1.15 with 4,583 shares.
