Blast off for the Junior Market

On a day of mostly rising prices trading surged on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Friday, leading the Market Index to blast off by 112.67 points to close up at 3,959.34.with a 193 percent jump in the volume of stocks traded following a 253 percent jump in value exchanged compared to market activity on Thursday after trading took place in 42 securities compared with 41 on Thursday and ended with 25 rising, six declining and 11 closing unchanged.
Investors traded 25,966,253 shares for $67,322,180 compared with 8,864,793 units at $19,070,025 on Thursday.
Trading averaged 618,244 shares at $1,602,909 compared with 216,214 shares at $465,123 on Thursday with the month to date, averaging 215,926 units at $451,974 compared to 199,525 stock units at $399,913 on the previous day. August closed with an average of 195,469 units at $393,452.
Several stocks traded more than 1 million shares at the close of the market, with Future Energy Source leading trading with 5.58 million shares for 21.5 percent of the total volume followed by JFP Ltd with 4.93 million units for 19 percent of the day’s trade, Spur Tree Spices followed with 3.26 million units for 12.5 percent market share, Fosrich chipped in with 2.31 million units for 8.9 percent of trading, Lasco Distributors with 1.80 million units for 6.9 percent share and Image Plus Consultants with 1.50 million units for 5.8 percent of total volume.
The Junior Market ended trading with an average PE Ratio of 11.1, based on last traded prices in conjunction with earnings projected by ICInsider.com for the financial years ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows five stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close, Caribbean Assurance Brokers rallied 40 cents in closing at $3.38 as investors exchanged 6,300 shares, Derrimon Trading advanced 20 cents and ended at $2.20, with 711,597 stocks changing hands, Everything Fresh rose 16 cents to $1.75 after an exchange of 472,368 units, Express Catering fell 15 cents to close at $4.60 with an exchange of 18,654 stock units. Fontana increased 18 cents to end at $10.58 with stakeholders exchanging 14,468 stock units, Fosrich popped 51 cents in closing at $2.90 in switching ownership of 2,311,932 shares, Future Energy Source climbed 11 cents to end at $4 with a transfer of 5,580,078 units, Image Plus Consultants gained 17 cents and ended at $2.17 after 1,503,000 stocks passed through the market. Indies Pharma increased 25 cents to close at $3.15 in an exchange of 49,771 stocks, Knutsford Express jumped $2.58 to $12.58 in trading 111,177 shares, Lumber Depot popped 14 cents in closing at $2.54, with 501,810 units clearing the market, Medical Disposables advanced 22 cents to $4.20 and closed with 100 stock units changing hands. MFS Capital Partners rallied 8 cents to end at $2.08 after trading 42,802 stocks, ONE on ONE Educational gained 14 cents to close at $1.15, with 787,025 stock units crossing the market, Paramount Trading rose 26 cents to $1.99 with an exchange 507 shares, Regency Petroleum rose 14 cents to $2.47 with shareholders swapping 612,662 units. Spur Tree Spices gained 8 cents in closing at $2.25, with 3,256,747 shares crossing the market, Stationery and Office Supplies popped 13 cents to end at $1.90 in an exchange of 437,808 stock units and tTech climbed 28 cents and ended at $2.48 with investors dealing in 100 stocks.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.