Trading in Jamaica’s foreign exchange market saw net inflows climbing by US$6.3 million of all foreign currencies traded as dealers continue to add to the net pool of funds accumulated in the system since the start of July.
At the end of trading, dealers bought US$25,483,427 and sold only US$19,195,850 compared to US$35,551,732 purchased and US$26,969,039 sold on Wednesday, of all currencies.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$22,657,177 compared to US$32,192,191 on Wednesday. The buying rate for the US dollar lost 3 cents to close at $127. A total of US$17,269,462 was sold versus US$24,604,567 on Wednesday, the selling rate rose 5 cents to end at $127.77.
The Canadian dollar buying rate fell $2.51 to $93.70, with dealers buying only C$745,881 and selling C$1,241,166 at an average rate that rose 73 cents to $97.97. The average rate for buying the British Pound jumped $1.04 to $165.63 for the purchase of £1,497,758 while only £632,131 was sold as the rate dropped $3.11 to end at $166.14.
At the end of trading, the selling rate for the Euro, fell $1.64 to close at J$142.81 from Wednesday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, dealers purchased the European common currency at J$138.96 for a gain of $1.94 from the rate on Wednesday. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded, amounts to US$322,513 being bought, while US$143,398, was sold.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest traded rates, for the Jamaican dollar in the foreign exchange market on Thursday, include a jump of $20.50 in the lowest selling rate of the US dollar to end at $124.50. There was a fall of $1.37 in the highest buying rate for the Canadian Dollar to end at $96.18 and a dive of $13.90 in the lowest selling rate to $79.10. Trading in the British Pound resulted in a rise of $1 in the highest buying rate to close at $169, a climb of $1.80 in the highest selling rate to $177.12 and a decline of $3.50 in the lowest selling rate to $169.50.
Net FX inflows up US$6.3m – Thursday
Scotia pushed JSE main market
A big 47 percent jump in Scotia Group’s third quarter profits motivated investors to push the stock up by $1 to $31.50 and the main market all Jamaica index up by more than 1,600 points in the morning session,
even as the overall volumes traded so far is light.
The junior market rose moderately with two stocks traded at new highs in the morning session, as Jetcon Corporation rose 70 cents to $4 with 20,000 units trading and while 2,000 units traded for Paramount Trading at $17.50 for a gain of $2.45. Caribbean Cream that has come in for increased buying traded above Wednesday’s closing high to $9 with 10,000 shares.
At 10:45 am 26 securities traded, resulting in a volume of only 246,695 shares carrying a value of 1,765,042 changing hands compared to 3,624,650 shares carrying a value of $18.2 million on Wednesday. The average number of shares traded amounts to only The 9,488 units compared to 95,386 units on Wednesday. The number of stocks falling are 6 while the prices of 12 securities rose as the market continues to consolidate.
The all Jamaica Composite Index gained 1,653.06 points to 178,719.40, the Jamaica Stock Exchange Market Index climbed 1,478.14 points to 160,848.70, the Jamaica Stock Exchange combined index rose 1,468.28 points to close at 172,630.46 and the junior market index rose 9.48 points to 2,283.75.
Stunning 47% increased Scotia profit
Scotia Group reported a stunning in net earnings jumping 47 percent for the third quarter to $3.3 billion over the 2015 July quarter. For the nine months, net earnings jumped 36.7 percent to $8.2 billion. Total comprehensive income for shareholders of the group ended at $9.3 billion for the nine months ended July 2016 up 10.5 percent from $8.8 billion.
For the third quarter, total comprehensive income of declined from $4.4 billion to $3.66 billion.
The results translate to earnings per share of $1.07 cents in the July quarter and $2.64 for the nine months, with full year’s earnings set to end around $3.90 and would put the PE at 7.8 versus an average of 9 based on estimated 2016 earnings for the main market valuation.
President and CEO of the banking group, Jackie Sharp, in a report to shareholders, commenting on the performance stated, “We continue to show strong performance this year, resulting from the execution of our strategic initiatives to grow revenues and reduce operating costs. All business lines showed good volume growth year over year, as we continued to meet our customer’s diverse needs. Our loan portfolio, after allowance for impairment losses, grew by $15.2 billion or 10.2 percent year over year. Customer Deposits also increased by $42.4 billion or 20.8 percent year over year. Funds under management in our wealth business grew by $15.9 billion or 14.9 percent year over year.”
Jackie Sharp – CEO Scotia Group
Other revenue for the nine months ended July 2016 amounted to $10 billion, an increase of $1.7 billion or 20.6 percent compared to the same period last year. This was due to growth in net fee and commission income from increased transaction volumes on our deposit and payment services, credit card and merchant service business segments, as well as higher foreign currency gains.”
Sharp went on the further state “Operating Expenses amounted to $15.6 billion over the nine months ended July 31, 2016, a decrease of $464 million or 2.9 percent compared to prior year. Salary related expenses declined by $400 million, which offset higher operating expenses of $276 million. There was also a decline in asset tax of $330 million.”
Loans, after allowance for impairment losses amounted to $163.9 billion as at the end of the 2016 quarter, while nonperforming loans totalled $4.4 billion, representing 2.7 percent of total gross loans down from 3.1 percent last year. Total customer liabilities represented by deposits, securities sold under repurchase agreements, and policyholders’ funds grew to $350 billion, an increase of $35.3 billion or 11.2 percent compared to July 2015. A significant portion of the growth was reflected in core deposits, which grew by 20.8 percent year over year the company stated.
The stock that traded at $30.50 on the Jamaica Stock Exchange is undervalued and importantly with strong growth in the third quarter and increased growth in the loan portfolio as well as a pickup in economic growth in Jamaica augurs well for strong growth in profits going forward. Note need to be taken of a possible fall in foreign exchange gains an area that grew sharply in the July quarter by 127 percent to $1.17 billion.
The group declared another dividend of 45 cents per share and seems set to pay total dividend for the fiscal year of $1.80 providing an attractive yield of 6 percent.
Net FX inflows up US$8.6m – Wednesday
Trading in Jamaica’s foreign exchange market saw net inflows climbing by US$8.6 million of all foreign currencies traded as dealers continue to add to the net pool of funds accumulated in the system since the start of July. The central bank is issuing 3 to 7 years US dollar bonds, to mop up excess US dollar, at rates ranging from 2.65 percent to 4.2 percent.
In Wednesday’s trading, the local dollar only lost value versus the US dollar buying rate but enjoyed gains around against the other rates. At the end of trading, dealers bought US$35,551,732 and sold only US$26,969,039 compared to US$26,841,312 purchased and US$24,854,416 sold on Tuesday, of all currencies.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$32,192,191 compared to US$23,201,767 on Tuesday. The buying rate for the US dollar rose 17 cents to close at $127.03.
A total of US$24,604,567 was sold versus US$21,450,365 on Tuesday, with the selling rate easing 1 cent to end at $127.72. The Canadian dollar buying rate fell 59 cents to $96.21, with dealers buying C$2,544,063 and selling C$2,364,789 at an average rate that fell 52 cents to $97.24. The average rate for buying the British Pound declined $1.30 to $164.59 for the purchase of £972,514 while only £295,488 was sold as the rate dropped $3.11 to end at $166.14.
At the end of trading, the selling rate for the Euro, rose $1.30 to close at J$144.45 from Tuesday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, dealers purchased the European common currency at J$137.02 for a gain of 66 cents from the rate on Tuesday. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded, amounts to US$172,652 being bought, while US$179,631, was sold.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest traded rates, for the Jamaican dollar in the foreign exchange market on Wednesday, include a decline of $3.49 in the highest selling rate of the US dollar to end at $134.51 and a drop of $19.60 to $104 in the lowest selling rate. There was a fall of $1.45 in the highest buying rate for the Canadian Dollar to end at $97.55. Trading in the British Pound resulted in a fall of $1.10 in the highest buying rate to close at $168, a decline of $2.02 in the highest selling rate to $175.32 and a rise of $1 in the lowest selling rate to $163.
4 stocks rise 1 fall on TTSE – Wednesday
Trading activity on the Trinidad and Tobago stock market closed Wednesday with gains in the two of the market indices. Volume traded fell below 50,000 units changing hands. At the close 9 securities changed hands, just 4 rose, 1 fell while 4 remained unchanged.
Market activity ended with only 42,593 shares valued at a mere $694,381 changing hands, well off from the $5,056,419 traded on Tuesday.
The Composite Index rose 1.48 points to close at 1,156.91, the All T&T Index fell 2.87 points to close at 1,818.93 and the Cross Listed Index ended with a gain of 0.01 points to 65.89.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator ended with 7 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 with offers that were lower.
Gains| Ansa McAl rose 70 cents and traded 2,500 units to close at $62.70, National Flour rose 8 cents to close with 10,470 shares changing hands at $2.50, Scotiabank gained 17 cents and closed with 3,528 shares changing hands at $57.80 and Scotia Investments gained 1 cent in trading 8,200 shares to close at $1.73.
Losses| The sole stock declining is Trinidad and Tobago NGL that closed at $23.50 with 1,158 units changing hands after falling 20 cents.
Firm Trades| First Citizens traded 3,383 units at $35, Guardian Holdings ended with 8,701 shares changing hands at $12.80, Prestige Holdings with 1,374 units changing hands ended at $10.83 and Sagicor Financial Corporation closed with just 3,282 shares changing hands at $6.60.
20 JSE stocks rose – Wednesday
Advancing stocks outnumber declining ones on Wednesday almost 2 to 1.
At the close of the market to 6,452,961 units valued at $39,142,493, changed hands, compared to the 3,862,389 units valued at $14,970,110 changing hands on Tuesday. The junior market accounted for 3,294,451 units valued at $15,960,574 of the total traded on Wednesday.
At the close of trading, the JSE Market Index declined 230.01 points to end at 159,370.56. The all Jamaica Composite Index fell 257.23 points to close at 177,066.34 and the JSE combined index lost 129.39 points, to end at 171,162.18.
At the close, IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 11 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers, suggesting continued fluidity in price movements immediately ahead.In market activity, Berger Paints traded 29,614 units and rose 6 cents to end at $5.05, investors picked up just 255,635 units of Cable & Wireless, the price rose 1 cent in closing at 80 cents, Caribbean Cement traded 19,195 shares to close with a gain of 59 cents at $26.59. Carreras traded 6,001 shares and fell 42 cents to close at $65.60, Investors traded 51,984 shares of 1834 Investments to close with a loss of 1 cent at $1.24, Grace Kennedy ended at $41.45, with 5,982 shares changing hand, Jamaica Broilers lost 20 cents with 91,362 shares changing hands, to end at $14.55. Jamaica Producers ended at $8.50 with 34,510 units trading, Jamaica Stock Exchange ended at $26.50 while trading 5,000 shares, JMMB Group traded 24,877 units and fell 10 cents to $9.90. Kingston Wharves fell $1.20 in trading 1,032 shares to close at $16.20, Mayberry Investments ended with 535,795 shares trading at $3.50, National Commercial Bank had 7,738 units changing hands, to close with a gain of $1.15 at $40.25, trading in shares of 138 Student Living, ended with 641,007 units changing hands, to gain 20 cents at the close at $4.70. Pan Jamaican Investments gained 40 cents and closed at $24.40 after trading 123,656 shares,
Radio Jamaica closed at $1.40 after 5,000 shares changed hands, Sagicor Group traded 44,896 shares while rising 50 cents to close at $23.10, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 16,000 shares to close with a gain of 20 cents at $10.35. Scotia Group closed with a gain of 50 cents at $30.50 with 112,598 shares changing hands, Scotia Investments had 196,976 units changing hands at $26, Seprod gained 1 cent to close at $19.51 with 5,000 shares trading, Supreme Ventures dipped 23 cents with 57,000 units changing hands to close at $4.75. JMMB Group 7.50% preference share rose 1 cent in trading 377,528 units to close at $1.09 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share closed with 500,000 units changing hands for a 1 cent rise to $2.09.
2 new highs for junior stocks – Wednesday
Caribbean Cream closed at a new high on Wednesday of $8.70 after trading as high as $10.20.
The market index gained 8.17 points, to close at 2,274.27. Market activities ended with 5 securities closing with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 ending with lower offers.
Trading ended with 3,294,451 units changing hands, 520 percent more than on Tuesday, while the value traded jumped 597 percent, with $15,960,574, up from $2,288,358 changing hands on Tuesday.At the close, AMG Packaging traded 25,500, shares with the price dropping $1.95 to close at $15.55, Blue Power rose 98 cents with 615 shares trading and closed at a new high of $21, CAC 2000 closed with 2,000 shares changing hands at $6.40. Caribbean Cream gained 40 cents and closed with 6,823 shares changing hands at a 52 weeks’ high of $8.70, after trading as high as $10.20, Caribbean Flavours lost 50 cents in trading 30,000 units to close at $8, Caribbean Producers traded 19,171 shares and fell 35 cents to close at $3.25. Consolidated Bakeries closed with a loss of 5 cents at $2.35 with 16,121 units changing hands. C2W Music ended with 210,483 shares trading at 20 cents, General Accident closed trading with 86,147 units at $2.30, Honey Bun rose 33 cents in trading 27,760 units to end at $5.85, Jamaican Teas traded only 220 units but declined by 20 cents to end at $3.80.
KLE Group traded 66,000 units and rose by 10 cents to close at $1.50. Knutsford Express Services ended with 740 units trading at $26, but ended trading with the stock on offer at $25 to sell 38,260 units. Lasco Distributors closed with 1,409,630 units trading, ended with a rise of 5 cents at $7, Lasco Financial lost 35 cents with 1,266,578 shares changing hands at $3.10. Lasco Manufacturing fell 9 cents and closed at $4.36 with 1,652 shares trading, Medical Disposables rose by 30 cents in trading 40,933 shares and closed at $3.85 and tTech rose 70 cents in trading 84,078 shares at $6.
2 new highs for junior market
The junior market rose moderately but three stocks traded at 
new highs in the morning session as Caribbean Cream hit $10.20 in trading just 4,823 shares and Blue Power traded at $21. tTech traded up to $6 with 48,521 unit. The advance decline ratio was positive at more than 2 to 1.
At 11:45 am 38 securities traded, resulting in a volume of just 3,624,650 shares carrying a value of $18.2 million changing hands compared to 2,159,587 shares carrying a value of approximately $2.16 million on Tuesday. The average number of shares traded amounts to only The 95,386 units compared to 79,985 units on Tuesday. The number of stocks falling are 8 while the prices of 18 securities rose as the market continues to consolidate.
138 Student Living traded 641,007 units and gained 20 cents to $4.70 and Lasco Financial Services trades 1,266,578 shares but fell down to $3.10 from $3.45 at the close on Tuesday.
The all Jamaica Composite Index gained 102.03 points to 177,425.60, the Jamaica Stock Exchange Market Index climbed 91.24 points to 159,691.81, the Jamaica Stock Exchange combined index rose 270.06 points to close at 171,561.63 and the junior market index rose 18.06 points to 2,284.16.
Net FX inflows up again – Tuesday
Trading in Jamaica’s foreign exchange market saw another day with more purchases of the all foreign currencies exceeding sales, with the net intake on Tuesday, being just US$2 million, well below the net in take on Monday of just a tad below US$10 million. The net US dollar currency intake was US$1.7 million.
In Tuesday’s trading, the local dollar gained against the US dollar for the buying rate while the selling rate declined, the Jamaican dollar strengthened against the Canadian and the Pound based on the selling rates.
At the end of trading, dealers bought US$26,841,312 and sold only US$24,854,416 compared to US$40,557,663 purchased and US$30,162,776 sold on Monday, of all currencies.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$23,201,767 compared to US$36,851,384 on Monday. The buying rate for the US dollar declined just 1 cent to close at $126.86. A total of US$21,450,365 was sold versus US$27,926,335 on Monday, with the selling rate rising 8 cents to end at $127.73. 
The Canadian dollar buying rate advanced by $1.51 to $96.80, with dealers buying C$2,470,145 and selling C$2,122,178 at an average rate that fell 51 cents to $97.76. The average rate for buying the British Pound rose 47 cents to $165.89 for the purchase of £1,227,623 while only £1,030,693 was sold as the rate dropped 2 cents to end at $169.25.
At the end of trading, the selling rate for the Euro, fell $1.47 to close at J$143.15 from Monday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, dealers purchased the European common currency at J$136.36 for a fall of $1.31 from the rate on Monday. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded, amounts to US$149,623 being bought, while US$414,024, was sold.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest traded rates, for the Jamaican dollar in the foreign exchange market on Tuesday, include a rise of $3.49 in the highest selling rate of the US dollar to end at $138 and a jump of $19.60 to $123.60 in the lowest selling rate. There was a fall of 74 cents in the highest selling rate for the Canadian Dollar to end at $101.37. Trading in the British Pound resulted in a fall of $1.60 in the highest buying rate to close at $169.10 and a rise of $1 in the lowest selling rate to $162.
19 JSE stocks rose on Tuesday
Jamaican stocks recovered some of the losses of the past two trading days with all three main market indices rising over 1,270 points when the market closed on Tuesday with the advance declining ratio be positive close two to one. The volume of stocks trading more than doubled, the volume traded on Monday, as the volume in Cable & Wireless climbed 230 percent to 2.1 million.
At the close of the market to 3,862,389 units valued at $14,970,110, compared to the 1,421,290 units valued at $14,318,294 changing hands on Monday. The junior market accounted for 531,125 units valued at $2,288,358 of the total traded on Tuesday.
At the close of trading, the JSE Market Index jumped 1,531.08 points to end at 159,600.57. The all Jamaica Composite Index surged 1,712.27 points to close at 177,323.57 and the JSE combined index climbed 1,272.91 points, to end at 171,291.57.
At the close, the prices of 19 securities gained out of a total of 33 that traded, with 11 declining in the overall market, including 7 stocks rising and 2 falling, in the junior market.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 13 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 8 with lower offers, suggesting continued fluidity in price movements ahead.
In market activity, Berger Paints traded 19,410 units and lost 1 cent to end at $4.99, investors picked up 2,134,925 units of Cable & Wireless gained 4 cents in closing at 79 cents as the stock gained some support at these lower levels. Caribbean Cement traded 62,686 shares to close with a gain of 40 cents at $26, Carreras traded 2,955 shares and gained 2 cents to close at $66.02, Investors traded 74,479 shares of 1834 Investments to close 15 cents higher at $1.25, Grace Kennedy rose 15 cents and ended at $41.45, with 37,527 shares changing hands. Jamaica Broilers rose 23 cents with 121,227 shares changing hands, to end at $14.75. Jamaica Producers ended with a loss of 9 cents at $8.50 with 16,259 units trading, JMMB Group traded 15,188 units and rose 15 cents to $10. Kingston Wharves gained 40 cents in trading 44,675 shares to close at $17.40, National Commercial Bank had 22,790 units changing hands to close with a loss of $1 at $39, Pan Jamaican Investments fell 50 cents and closed at $24 after trading 40,560 shares.
Portland JSX closed at $11 with 15,450 shares changing hands, Radio Jamaica lost 2 cents to close at $1.40 after 84,764 shares changed hands, Sagicor Group traded 24,100 shares while rising 10 cents to close at $22.60, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 12,524 shares to close with a loss of 5 at $10.15. Scotia Group closed at $30 with 26,885 shares changing hands, Scotia Investments climbed 50 cents with 4,280 units changing hands at $26, Supreme Ventures gained 22 cents with 2,000 units changing hands to close at $4.98, Proven Investments traded 3,125 units to close at 19 US cents and JMMB Group 7.50% preference share lost 2 cents in trading 563,355 units to close at $1.08.
