The Jamaican foreign exchange market closed on Friday with buying volume US$8 million more than the amount sold by dealers. At the close of trading, the Jamaican dollar’s lost value against the US dollar, the Pound and the Canadian dollar but gained against the euro.
At the end of trading, the equivalent of all currencies bought by dealers amounted to US$27,764,103, while US$19,940,807 was sold, compared to US$46,893,091 purchased and US$44,516,844 sold on Thursday.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$24,043,908 compared to US$44,920,559 on Thursday. The buying rate for the US dollar fell by 38 cents to close at $127.92. A total of US$18,470,128 was sold versus US$43,323,564 on Thursday, with the selling rate rising 9 cents to end at $128.82. 
The Canadian dollar buying rate rose $1.50 to $95.46, with dealers buying C$1,709,934 and selling C$598,085 at an average rate that rose 46 cents to $97.09. The average rate for buying the British Pound gained 92 cents to $155.26 for the purchase of £1,896,234 while £745,879 was sold at a rate that rose 1 cent to end at $156.45.
At the end of trading on Friday, dealers sold €89,708 as the selling rate for the Euro, closed at $141.86 for fall of $1.09, according to data from Bank of Jamaica. Dealers purchased €120,458 of the European common currency at $136.98 after gaining 36 cents. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded, amounts to US$13,466 being bought and selling of US$15,296.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest rates for the regularly traded currencies in the foreign exchange market on Friday, 
include a drop of $20.26 in the lowest selling rate of the US Dollar to end at $104.54. The lowest selling rate of the Canadian dollar fell $1.20 to $93. The highest buying rate of the British Pound dropped $2.13 to $157.35, the lowest buying rate climbed $1.03 to $127.61, the highest selling rate rose 83 cents to $166.05 and the lowest selling rate dipped $2.20 to $150. Trading in the Euro resulted in a fall of $1.60 in the highest buying rate to $140, the highest selling rate climbed $3.54 to $149.04 and the lowest selling rate climbed $2 to $138.
US$8m surplus in FX market – Friday
Majors dip on Friday
Bulls continue their run on Jamaican stocks
At the close, the all Jamaica Composite Index fell 610.32 points to end at 186,142.70, the JSE Market Index dropped 545.74 points to close of 167,486.45 and the JSE combined index lost 800.02 points, to end at 179,972.65, up 14 percent for the year to date.
At the close 1,362,599 units valued at $11,379,949 changed hands, compared to 4,654,511 units valued at $50,143,006 changing hands on Thursday. The junior market accounted for 647,967 units valued at $3,787,554 of the stocks traded.IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 14 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 with a lower offer.
In market activity, Barita Investments traded 800 shares at $4.65, Cable & Wireless lost 11 cents and closed at 99 cents with 362,410 units trading,
Caribbean Cement traded just 5,400 shares and lost 85 cents to close at $31.15. Trading in 1834 Investments ended with 13,200 shares changing hands as the price rose 4 cents to close at $1.24, Grace Kennedy rose 21 cents and closed with 17,384 shares changing hands at $41.99. JMMB Group added 50 cents in trading 72,721 units to close at $14. Kingston Wharves dipped 10 cents in trading 2,071 shares to close at $17, Pan Jamaican Investments rose 5 cents to close at $23.30 after trading 28,628 shares, Sagicor Group rose 18 cents in trading 4,951 shares to end at $24, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 17,290 shares to close at $10.18. Scotia Group lost 20 cents to close at $31 with 49,983 shares changing hands, Scotia Investments had 6,100 units changing hands to close with a loss of 5 cents at $30, Seprod traded 105,000 shares and gained 16 cents to close at $22.76.
Junior stocks falter on Friday
AMG Packaging traded at $20 and closed with the bid at $20.51 on Friday.
At the close, 14 securities traded, down from 17 on Thursday but volume dropped 61 percent from Thursday’s levels, ending with 647,967 units changing hands, while value traded, declined 65 percent to $3,787,554 from $10,731,708, on Thursday.
Market activities ended with 7 securities closing with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 ending with lower offers.In trading activity, AMG Packaging climbed 50 cents to end at $20 with 20,000 units changing hands, Caribbean Cream fell 13 cents in trading 12,612 units changing hands and closed at $9.25, Caribbean Flavours traded 4,440 shares and lost 20 cents to end at $8.40, Caribbean Producers gained 11 cents in trading 1,200 units to end at $3.62. Dolphin Cove traded 607 shares to end at $12.05,
General Accident closed trading with 713 units at $2.61,Jetcon Corporation had 48,500 units changing hands, to end at $4, KLE Group ended at $1.56 with 50,000 shares changing hands after dropping 49 cents. Lasco Distributors had 261,424 units trading and closed 25 cents down to $7, Lasco Financial lost 20 cents and ended with 126,557 shares changing hands at $3, Lasco Manufacturing closed with a fall of 25 cents at $4.75 with 76,000 shares trading. Medical Disposables traded 41,444 shares but lost 10 cents to close at $4.50, Paramount Trading ended with 4,170 shares changing hands but lost $1.05 to close at $23.95 and tTech traded 300 shares to close at $5.05.
Sharp fall in trading on TTSE – Friday
JMMB Group closed at a 52 weeks’ high of 76 TT cents on Friday.
Trading activity resulted in 283,781 shares valued at $1,550,600 changing hands, compared to 306,294 shares valued at $6,838,267 on Thursday as two stocks closed at new 52 weeks’ high and one at a 52 weeks’ low.
The market closed with modest movements in the indices, with the Composite Index rising by 1.85 points to close at 1,173.87. The All T&T Index closed with a loss of 0.13 points at 1,819.51, down 6.6 percent for 2016 and the Cross Listed Index gained 0.53 points to 70.44 points and is up 42.27 percent year to date.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator ended with 6 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 with lower offers.
Gains| Firstcaribbean International Bank ended trading just 84 shares and closed with a rise of 10 cents at a 52 weeks’ high of $7.75, JMMB Group closed at a 52 weeks’ high with 150,000 units and gained 1 cent to end at 76 cents.
Sagicor Financial Corporation rose 6 cents and closed with 101,133 shares valued at $723,101 changing hands at $7.16 and Scotiabank gained 1 cent to close with 20 shares changing hands to end at $58.26.Losses| One Caribbean Media lost 10 cents and closed at 52 weeks’ low of $20.40 with 17,000 shares changing hands and Trinidad and Tobago NGL closed 5 cents lower at $23.60 with 15,348 units changing hands valued at $362,413.
Firm Trades| Guardian Holdings traded 196 shares with the price remaining at $12.60.
JSE makes early morning gains – Friday
The Jamaica Stock Exchange is enjoying modest gains in Friday morning trading as investors participate in moderate trading on the final day of the week. 
Trading volume and values were well down on Thursday’s levels but advancing stocks edged out declining ones.
The all Jamaica Composite Index gained 200.66 points to 186,953.68 the Jamaica Stock Exchange Market Index advanced 179.43 points to 168,211.62, the Jamaica Stock Exchange combined index rose 191.65 points to close at 180,964.32 and the junior market index rose 2.46 points to 2,430.33.
At 10.45 am, a total of 23 securities traded, resulting in a volume of 346,328 shares changing hands carrying a value of $3,122,421, compared to 1,933,234 shares changing hands carrying a value of $12,769,849 on Thursday.
The average number of shares traded amounts to 15,058 units compared to 69,044 on Thursday. Market activity resulted in 6 stocks falling while the prices of 8 securities rose.
Cable & Wireless traded 119,582 units but lost 10 cents in trading down to $1 was the sole stock trading over 100,000 units, but Seprod traded 50,000 and gained $1.40 to $24 and Paramount Trading lost $1 following the release of first quarter results that showed much lower profits than in 2015.
More FX bought than sold – Thursday
The Jamaican foreign exchange market closed on Thursday with buying volume US$2 million more than the amount sold by dealers. At the close of trading, the Jamaican dollar’s lost value against the US dollar and the euro but gained against the Pound and the Canadian currencies.
At the end of trading, the equivalent of all currencies bought by dealers amounted to US$46,893,091, while US$44,516,844 was sold, compared to US$32,082,105 purchased and US$32,451,077 sold on Wednesday.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$44,920,559 compared to US$29,052,296 on Wednesday. The buying rate for the US dollar rose by 38 cents to close at $128.30. A total of US$43,323,564 was sold versus US$26,777,442 on Wednesday, with the selling rate rising 11 cents to end at $128.73.
The Canadian dollar buying rate rose 9 cents to $93.96, with dealers buying C$637,654 and selling C$421,345 at an average rate that fell 75 cents to $96.63. The average rate for buying the British Pound declined 70 cents to $154.34 for the purchase of £1,185,165 while £627,369 was sold at a rate that dipped 48 cents to end at $156.44.
At the end of trading on Thursday, dealers sold €97,738 as the selling rate for the Euro, closed at $142.95 for gain of 85 cents, according to data from Bank of Jamaica. Dealers purchased €57,659 of the European common currency at $136.62 after falling $4.20. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded, amounts to US$18,329 being bought and selling of US$6,042.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest rates for the regularly traded currencies 
in the foreign exchange market on Thursday, include a drop of $20.26 in the lowest selling rate of the US Dollar to end at $104.54. The lowest selling rate of the Canadian dollar fell $1.20 to $93. The highest buying rate of the British Pound dropped $2.13 to $157.35, the lowest buying rate climbed $1.03 to $127.61, the highest selling rate rose 83 cents to $166.05 and the lowest selling rate dipped $2.20 to $150. Trading in the Euro resulted in a fall of $1.60 in the highest buying rate to $140, the highest selling rate climbed $3.54 to $149.04 and the lowest selling rate climbed $2 to $138.
Clico dominates trade on TTSE – Thursday
Trinidad and Tobago stock market ended Thursday with 13 securities trading of which 1 gained, 3 declined and 9 remained unchanged. Trading ended with increased volume and value as Clico Investment Fund dominated trading in dollar terms with the fund accounting for $6 million of the total amount traded.
Trading activity resulted in 306,294 shares valued at $6,838,267 changing hands, compared to 127,817 shares valued at $1,315,583 on Wednesday.
The market closed with modest movements in the indices, with the Composite Index declining by 0.23 points to close at 1,172.02. The All T&T Index closed with a loss of 0.13 points at 1,819.71 and the Cross Listed Index fell by 0.05 points to 69.91 points and is up 41.3 percent year to date.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator ended with 5 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 with lower offers.
Gains| Asna McAl traded 10,163 shares valued at $636,984 and gained 5 cents to end at $62.70.
Losses| First Citizens Bank traded 2,050 shares and lost 3 cents to close at $34.95, Massy Holdings ended with 200 shares changing hands at $51.99 after losing a cent and Republic Financial Holdings ended with 50 shares trading, with a loss of 2 cents at $110.98.
Firm Trades| Angostura Holdings ended with 1,200 shares changing hands to close at $14.65, Clico Investment Fund closed with 266,311 shares valued at $6,018,629 changing hands to end at $22.60, National Commercial Bank closed at $2.60 with 1,190 shares trading, National Enterprises closed with 100 shares changing hands to close at $10.16. Praetorian Property Mutual Fund with 444 units changing hands ended at $2.65, Sagicor Financial Corporation closed with 3,830 shares changing hands at $7.10. Scotia Investments closed with 20,379 shares changing hands to end at $1.80, Trinidad and Tobago NGL closed at $23.65 with 227 units changing hands and Trinidad Cement had 100 shares changing hands to close at $3.50.
Majors march higher on Thursday
Berger Paints ended at a 52 weeks’ closing high on Thursday
At the close, the all Jamaica Composite Index climbed 701.19 points to end at a new closing high of 186,753.02, the JSE Market Index jumped 626.99 points to a record close of 168,032.19 and the JSE combined index surge 926.01 points, to end at record high of 180,772.67, up 15 percent for the year to date.
At the close 4,654,511 units valued at $50,143,006 changed hands, compared to 19,800,887 units valued at $274,090,977 changing hands on Wednesday. The junior market accounted for 1,643,799 units valued at $10,731,708 of the stocks traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 8 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 with a lower offer.In market activity, Barita Investments gained 11 cents in trading 20,000 shares at $4.65, Berger Paints traded 2,000 shares and gained 10 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $5.75, Cable & Wireless gained 12 cents and closed at $1.10 with 1,100,206 units trading, Caribbean Cement traded 38,980 shares and lost $1 to close at $32. Carreras had 3,416 shares changing hands at $66 after rising 1 cent, Ciboney traded 114,458 shares gained 1 cents in closing at 22 cents, trading in 1834 Investments ended with 187,165 shares changing hands to close at $1.20, Grace Kennedy lost 20 cents and closed with 1,700 shares changing hands at $41.78. Jamaica Broilers traded 332,665 units but rose 19 cents to close at $14.60, Jamaica Producers lost 25 cents and ended with 97,749 shares changing hands to close at $8, Jamaica Stock Exchange lost 1 cent and ended at $27.99 while trading 14,044 shares, JMMB Group shed $1.48 in trading 9,549 units to close at $13.50. Kingston Properties rose 6 cents in trading 664,191 shares to close at $9.06. Kingston Wharves gained 5 cents in trading 13,000 shares to close at $17.10,
Mayberry Investments traded 82,890 shares to close with a gain 10 cents at $3.60, National Commercial Bank traded 12,600 shares and gained 60 cents to end at $43, Pan Jamaican Investments lost 5 cents to close at $23.25 after trading 35,062 shares. Portland JSX traded 5,000 units with the price rising by 4 cents to end at $11.10, Sagicor Group lost 18 cents in trading 2,328 shares to end at $23.82, Scotia Group gained $1 to close at $31.20 with 868,469 shares changing hands. Scotia Investments had 18,100 units changing hands to close with a 5 cents gain at $30.05, Seprod traded 2,857 shares and lost 90 cents to close at $22.60, Supreme Ventures lost 4 cents and closed at $4.75 with 17,049 shares changing and Proven Investments closed at 20 US cents with 15,625 shares trading.
Junior stocks jump on Thursday
Honey Bun was the lead trade with 1 million shares.
Market activity resulted in advancing stocks over powered declining stocks 8 to 4, pushing the junior market index up by 33.53 points to 2,427.87 to be up 36 percent for the year to date.
At the close, 19 securities up from 12 on Wednesday but the trading volume dropped 82 percent from Wednesday’s levels, ending with 1,643,799 units changing hands, while value traded, declined 79 percent to $10,731,708 from $51,520,805, on Wednesday.
Market activities ended with 2 securities closing with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 ending with lower offers.In other trading activity, Access Financial jumped $2.60 and ended trading with 950 units to end at $21, AMG Packaging dropped 50 cents to end at $19.50 with 12,000 units changing hands, Blue Power closed with 2,678 units changing hands to close at $24.10 after falling 10 cents, Cargo Handlers traded 325 shares at $90. Caribbean Cream closed trading with 386,761 units at $9.38 and fell 62 cents following flat results for the company’s second quarter, after increased revenues were negated by rising administrative cost. Caribbean Producers traded 65,208 units to end at $3.51, Dolphin Cove traded 2,500 shares and lost 95 cents to end at $12.05, General Accident closed trading with 9,576 units at $2.61,
Honey Bun traded 1,002,000 shares and rose 10 cents to $6.10, Jamaican Teas traded 1,886 units to end at $4. Jetcon Corporation gained 20 cents with 87,175 units changing hands, to end at $4, KLE Group ended at $2.09 with 11,300 shares changing hands after rising by 16 cents, Knutsford Express traded just 100 units and gained $1.20 to close at $23.20, Lasco Distributors had 23,350 units trading and closed 25 cents higher at $7. Lasco Financial gained 10 cents and ended with 18,250 shares changing hands at $3.20, Lasco Manufacturing closed with a gain of 1 cent at $5 with 17,440 shares trading and Paramount Trading ended with 2,300 shares changing hands at $25.
Majors drop juniors gain
The Jamaica Stock Exchange market main market indices fell in Thursday morning while the junior market index rose with volume increasing over Wednesday’s levels.
The all Jamaica Composite Index dropped 233.27 points to 185,818.56 the Jamaica Stock Exchange Market Index fell 208.58 points to 167,196.62, the Jamaica Stock Exchange combined index slipped 9.50 points to close at 179,837.16 and the junior market index rose 17.90 points to 2,421.24.
At 10.45 am, a total of 28 securities traded, resulting in a volume of 1,933,234 shares changing hands carrying a value of $12,769,849, compared to 1,599,416 shares changing hands carrying a value of $10,753,662 on Wednesday.
The average number of shares traded amounts to 69,044 units compared to 72,701 on Wednesday. Market activity resulted in 10 stocks falling while the prices of 12 securities rose.
Caribbean Cement dropped $3 in early trading with 30,000 units at $30, but recovered back to $33 after trading 5,000 more units, JMMB Group fell from $14.98 on Wednesday to $13.50 while trading 3,000 units, Scotia Investments jumped to $34 from $30 while trading 26,000 units, Caribbean Cream Traded 260,866 units and last traded at $9.90 but went as high as $10.19, Honey Bun traded 1 million shares but lost ground to $5.51, down 49 cents but the bid is now at $5.70.
