Winners were outnumbered by losers on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market on Thursday and yet, the market indices recorded solid gains after trading in 60 securities, just above the 59 changing hands on Wednesday, with 20 rising, 26 declining and 14 ending unchanged.
The market closed with 13,903,304 shares trading for $88,827,373, with five companies accounting for 11.54 million shares. Thursday’s volume jumped by 15 percent over 12,124,104 stocks on Wednesday, with the value falling 15 percent from $104,342,325.
Trading averaged 231,722 shares at $1,480,456, contrasting with 205,493 stock units at $1,768,514 on Wednesday and month to date, an average of 274,845 units at $2,579,183 after falling from 277,336 shares at $2,642,632 on the previous day and above January with an average of 271,336 stock units at $2,043,022.
Transjamaican Highway led trading with 3.69 million shares for 26.6 percent of total volume followed by Wigton Energy with 2.98 million stocks for 21.4 percent of the day’s trade, Radio Jamaica closed with 2.0 million stock units for 14.4 percent of the volume traded, Sagicor Select Financial Fund ended with 1.82 million shares for 13.1 percent of the volume traded and Lasco Distributors with 1.05 million stocks for 7.6 percent of market share.
The All Jamaican Composite Index advanced 2,117.90 points to 401,734.12, the JSE Main Index rose 1,047.52 points to end at 343,861.81 and the JSE Financial Index rose 0.72 points to close at 63.35. At the close, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 12 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
The Main Market ended with an average PE Ratio of 17.4. The JSE Main and the USD Market PE ratios are based on the last traded prices and earnings that are compiled by ICInsider.com for companies with fiscal year ending around August 2026.
At the close of the market, Berger Paints gained 48 cents and ended at $5.79 with 610 shares crossing the exchange, Caribbean Cement fell 50 cents to $110 after a transfer of 9,909 stock units, Carreras sank $1 to finish at $21 in trading 310,283 shares. Eppley declined $1.95 to $32 with 30,143 stocks crossing the market, Eppley Caribbean Property Fund lost 50 cents in closing at $46 with investors dealing in 563 units, First Rock Real Estate dipped $1.69 to close at $8.31 with 450 stocks passing through the market. GraceKennedy sank $2.50 to $70 in switching ownership of 74,970 shares, Guardian Holdings dropped $2.50 in closing at $366.50 with 11,450 stock units clearing the market, Jamaica Producers shed 66 cents to finish at $23.64 with investors trading 250,655 shares.
JMMB Group shed 65 cents to $17.35 after an exchange of 445,874 stock units, Lasco Manufacturing rose 50 cents to close at $6.79 with 127,046 stock units changing hands, Margaritaville rallied $1.01 to end at $12.82 with an exchange of 398 stocks. Mayberry Group slipped 50 cents to $6 with 7,583 units crossing the market, NCB Financial sank 50 cents to end at $42.50 with traders dealing in 113,889 shares, Sagicor Group increased 95 cents in closing at $40 in an exchange of 4,399 stock units and Scotia Group climbed 61 cents and ended at $49.99 with investors trading 39,106 stocks.
In the preference segment, Jamaica Public Service 7% popped $7.95 to close at $42.95 after an exchange of 122 units and Sygnus Credit Investments 10% gained $2 to finish at $109 after traders swapped 1,500 stocks.Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
At the close of the market, the JSE Combined Market Index rallied 888.78 points to 352,983.91, the All Jamaican Composite Index climbed 2,117.90 points to end at 401,734.12, the JSE Main Index rose 1,047.52 points to finish at 343,861.81, the Junior Market Index slipped by 16.00 points to 3,370.22, at the same time the JSE USD Market Index declined 1.64 points to end at 282.87.
In the preference share segment, Jamaica Public Service 7% rose $7.95 to finish at $43 and Sygnus Credit Investments 10% popped $2 and ended at $109.
The market closed with 21,504,069 shares trading worth $45,830,454 compared with 22,146,875 units at $42,456,404 on Wednesday.
At the close of trading, the Junior Market Index shed 16.00 points to end the day at 3,370.22. The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows six stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
Elite Diagnostic popped 12 cents to end at $1.48 in an exchange of 13,106 stocks, Fosrich fell 14 cents in closing at $2.19 with 1,910,662 stock units clearing the market. GWest Corporation dipped 9 cents and ended at 66 cents with an exchange of 7,279 shares, Honey Bun sank 9 cents to finish at $6.50 with 6,474 stock units crossing the market, Image Plus increased 9 cents to close at 89 cents with investors trading 28,473 units. Indies Pharma climbed 25 cents to $2.95 after an exchange of 24,982 stocks, Iron Rock Insurance slipped 20 cents to end at $2.50 with investors swapping 195,389 shares, Jetcon Corporation lost 9 cents in closing at $2.30 in an exchange of 2,162,971 stocks. Knutsford Express declined 80 cents to finish at $10 with traders dealing in 5,848 units, Limners and Bards fell 10 cents and ended at 90 cents as investors exchanged 339,706 stock units and Regency Petroleum shed 6 cents to close at $4.24 in switching ownership of 129,983 shares.
The market closed with 12,124,104 shares marginally more than the 11,892,251 stock units trading on Tuesday, after an exchange of $104,342,325, versus $75,617,149 on Tuesday.
The Main Market ended trading with an average PE Ratio of 17.7. The JSE Main and the USD Market PE ratios are based on last traded prices and earnings that are forecasted by ICInsider.com for the financial year ending around August 2026.
JMMB Group gained 92 cents to finish at $18 as investors traded 399,112 shares, Mayberry Jamaican Equities rose 84 cents to end at $7.54 with 787 stock units passing through the market, NCB Financial rallied 60 cents to close at $43 in an exchange of 183,406 stocks. Pan Jamaica increased $3.90 to $50.90 with investors swapping 209,162 units, Sagicor Group sank 45 cents to finish at $39.05 after a transfer of 118,725 stocks, Sagicor Real Estate Fund climbed $1.19 and ended at $7.94 in trading 160 units. Seprod popped $2.98 to end at $79.98 with 271 shares changing hands, Supreme Ventures advanced 63 cents in closing at $18.20 in an exchange of 48,875 stock units and Wisynco Group gained 70 cents to close at $22.50 with 33,005 shares clearing the market.
At the close, a total of 22,146,875 shares worth $42,456,404 were traded, after an increase over the 6,025,721 units at $9,189,434 on Tuesday.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging shed 24 cents to end at $2 after an exchange of 121,713 shares, Cargo Handlers sank by 10 cents to $18.70 with 2,000 stocks crossing the market, Caribbean Cream slipped 10 cents to $1.79 at the close after trading at an intraday 52 days low of $1,55, after an exchange of 40,221 shares. Caribbean Flavours lost 20 cents in closing at $1.50 after a transfer of 206,256 stocks, Consolidated Bakeries increased 19 cents to $1.66 after trading of 5,000 units, Derrimon Trading popped 17 cents to finish at $1.80 in switching ownership of 2,105,408 stocks. Dolla Financial advanced 13 cents to $2.58 after an exchange of 3,334,960 units, Dolphin Cove rose 38 cents to close at $11.28 with 1,489 shares changing hands, Elite Diagnostic fell 14 cents in closing at $1.36 with a transfer of 20,902 stock units. Everything Fresh dipped 7 cents and ended at $2.02 with 25,000 shares passing through the market, Fosrich gained 13 cents to end at $2.33 in trading 2,885,472 stocks, Future Energy rallied 9 cents to finish at $3.10 with 40,243 units clearing the market.
Honey Bun climbed 10 cents to $6.59 with traders dealing in 616 stock units, Image Plus sank 9 cents to end at 80 cents after an exchange of 1,510,819 shares, Indies Pharma skidded 20 cents in closing at $2.70 with investors trading 31,780 stocks. ISP Finance increased 85 cents to finish at $13 with an exchange of 157 stock units, Jamaican Teas climbed 19 cents and ended at $2.42 with 1,866,406 stock units crossing the market, Knutsford Express rose 52 cents to close at $10.80 with investors dealing in 8,645 shares. Lasco Financial dropped 15 cents to $1.65 with 6,526 stock units crossing the exchange, Mailpac Group advanced 30 cents to $2.90 with investors swapping 967,872 units, Omni Industries declined 12 cents to end at 88 cents after an exchange of 1,000,000 stocks. ONE on ONE Educational popped 8 cents in closing at 94 cents with investors trading 1,208,598 units and Stationery and Office Supplies gained 23 cents to finish at $1.74 after an exchange of 1,865,688 shares.
Trading averaged 194,955 shares at $1,239,625, after falling from 1,082,058 stocks at $2,772,035 on Monday and month to date, an average of 281,661 stock units at $2,695,257, after slipping down from 287,416 shares at $2,791,877 on the previous day and higher than for January, with an average of 271,336 units at $2,043,022.
At the close of trading, Barita Investments lost 43 cents and ended at $69.80 with 4,186 shares passing through the market, Caribbean Cement rallied 92 cents to $112.92 in an exchange of 7,082 units, Carreras rose $1 to $21.20 with trading in 165,490 shares. Eppley Caribbean Property Fund rose $5.37 to end at $46 with trading of 25,668 stocks , Guardian Holdings skidded 52 cents to close at $360.48 with investors trading 1,013 stocks, Jamaica Producers sank $1.15 to finish at $22.80 after a transfer of 165,550 units. Kingston Wharves dipped 91 cents to $33.95 with investors trading 8,554 shares, Margaritaville popped 89 cents and ended at $11.81 with an exchange of 51 stock units, NCB Financial sank 55 cents to $42.40 trading 86,002 stocks. Pan Jamaica shed $2.49 to finish at $47 with 4,201 units crossing the market,
Portland JSX dropped 57 cents to end at $8 in trading 213 stocks, Sagicor Group fell 95 cents to close at $39.50 after an exchange of 20,613 shares. Sagicor Real Estate Fund slipped $1.19 to $6.75 with investors dealing in 11,071 stock units and Seprod declined $4.98 to end at $77 in an exchange of 513 shares.
The market closed with trading of 6,025,721 shares for $9,189,434 after plunging from 48,900,696 units at $25,636,425 on Monday.
The Junior Market ended trading with an average PE Ratio of 14, derived by dividing the last traded price of a stock by the earnings per share. ICInsider.com compiles the PE ratios in this report for companies with the fiscal year ending around August 2026.
GWest Corporation fell 13 cents and ended at 70 cents after a transfer of 1,400 shares, ISP Finance dropped $1.10 to close at $12.15 with a mere unit exiting the exchange, Jetcon Corporation rallied 9 cents to end at $2.39, following the trading of 546,642 stock units. Knutsford Express sank 51 cents to $10.28 after an exchange of 2,174 stock units, Limners and Bards increased 9 cents to $1.02 after dealers swapped 20,742 shares, Lumber Depot climbed 20 cents and ended at $2.50 with an exchange of 5,201 stock units. Medical Disposables rose 18 cents to close at $1.34 with 201 stocks changing hands, Regency Petroleum advanced 20 cents to finish at $4.30 after an exchange of 57,262 units and Stationery and Office Supplies skidded 13 cents to end at $1.51 with a transfer of 271,016 shares.
At the close of the market, the JSE Combined Market Index fell 594.18 points to 350,028.05, the All Jamaican Composite Index sank 756.02 points to end at 397,533.46, the JSE Main Index declined by 522.08 points to close trading at 341,180.65, the Junior Market Index shed 13.33 points to finish at 3,315.26 and the JSE USD Market Index rallied 6.14 points to settle at 276.17.
In Junior Market trading, Atlantic Hardware led the market with 1.09 million shares, followed by Kintyre Holdings with 1.09 million stocks and MFS Capital Partners with 556,803 units.
The market closed with 68,169,647 shares trading for $174,638,204, with the volume increasing from 16,289,808 stocks at $249,65,396 on Friday.
The Main Market ended trading with an average PE Ratio of 17.5. The JSE Main and the USD Market PE ratios are based on last traded prices and earnings compiled by ICInsider.com for companies with the fiscal year ending around August 2026.
Pan Jamaica increased $2.54 and ended at $49.49 with an exchange of 18,328 shares, Portland JSX climbed 57 cents to finish at $8.57 after dealers swapped 46 stock units, Sagicor Group rose 80 cents to close at $40.45 with 8,370 stocks changing hands and Scotia Group sank 71 cents to $49.30 after an exchange of 47,137 units.
Bank of Jamaica announced that, effective 24 February 2026, the rate offered on overnight balances on the current accounts of deposit-taking institutions, the policy rate, will be reduced by 25 basis points from 5.75 percent per annum to 5.50 per cent per annum.
This earlier-than-previously-anticipated return to target reflects a moderation of the Bank’s forecast for later (or second-round) price increases. In addition, private sector expectations of future inflation (inflation expectations), a key driver of headline inflation, are forecast to fall to normal levels over the near term. The current account of Jamaica’s balance of payments is, however, projected to record higher deficits over the near term as the economy rebuilds from the Hurricane Melissa fallout, but the international reserves remain healthy and are projected to improve further. The forecast also considers the direct impact of the recently announced tax package.