The selling rate for the Jamaican dollar fell to a new all-time low of 118.02 to buy the US dollar on Wednesday. Purchases by dealers of foreign currencies on Wednesday, resulted in the Jamaican currency selling rate slipping against the US and the Canadian dollars while making gains against the British Pound.
The market closed with dealers buying the equivalent of US$31,823,526 in contrast to US$28,520,235 on Tuesday, while they sold the equivalent of US$35,037,208, previously US$33,369,834. In US dollar trading , dealers bought US$28,564,957 compared to US$26,230,782 on Tuesday. The buying rate for the US dollar rose 13 cents to $117.36 and US$33,039,394 was sold versus US$31,982,978 on Tuesday, the selling rate gained 9 cents to break into the 118 level for the first time when it closed at $118.02. 
The Canadian dollar buying rate rose 18 cents to $87.35, with dealers buying C$1,478,986 and selling C$1,046,668, at an average rate that climbed 30 cents to $88.95. The rate for buying the British Pound rose 20 cents to $178.20 for the purchase of £1,215,513, while £541,495 was sold, at an average rate that fell $1.02 to end at $179.36. At the end of trading, it took J$132.77 to purchase the Euro, with a rise of 71 cents on Tuesday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$130, an increase of 67 cents on Tuesday’s rate. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$312,158, while the equivalent of US$386,017 was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, rose 3 cents to $118.48, the lowest buying and the highest selling rates remained at $96.53 and $123.69 respectively. 
The lowest selling rate gained 16 cents to $98.26. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar added 55 cents to $89.85, the lowest buying rate rose 42 cents to $70.97 and highest selling rate remained at $92. The lowest selling rate rose 20 cents to end at $85.20. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, rose $1.32 to $181.82, the lowest buying rate fell 75 cents to $145.08, the highest selling rate dropped 96 cents to $187.04 and the lowest selling rate declined by $1.60 to $173.40.
7 stocks up 3 down for juniors
Blue Power jumped to a 52 weeks’ high of $14 on Monday
At the close, 5 securities ended with no bids to buy, while 4 had no stocks being offered for sale and 4 stocks closed with bids higher than the last traded prices and none with the offer being lower.
Stocks trading are, Access Financial ended at $16.50 with a gain of $3.50 with 13,547 units changing hands, Blue Power rose $1.70 to a new 52 weeks’ high of $14 while 3,000 shares traded, Caribbean Cream ended with 300,018 shares changing hands at $2 for a 30 cents increase. Caribbean Producers traded 10,006 units at $2.51, for a decline of 9 cents, Consolidated Bakeries traded 17,950 shares at $1.20 after shedding 9 cents, Dolphin Cove
gained 85 cents to $13, while 62,000 shares traded, General Accident Insurance traded 30,000 units at $1.42, Honey Bun with 11,358 shares changing hands, closed with a gain of 25 cents at $4.25, for a 52 weeks’ high, Jamaican Teas had 4,149 shares trading, to close at $3.10, Lasco Distributors was up 8 cents to $1.70, with 224,468 units changing hands. Lasco Financial closed with 57,133 units trading to end at $1.65, after rising 1 cent, Lasco Manufacturing gained 10 cents in closing at $1.90 with 129,204 units changing hands and Medical Disposables traded 22,000 shares to close unchanged at $2.50.
Polls suggest big win for T&T PNM
The voters in the twin island state of Trinidad and Tobago go to the polls on Monday, September 7 in general election to elect a new government. The incumbent, the People’s Party Coalition – United National Congress (PP/UNC) has been in government since May 2010 is said to be trailing in recent public opinion polls conducted by H.H.B. & Associates Ltd for Guardian Media Ltd.
According to the poll results, the People’s National Movement (PNM) is leading the race in voter support with just eight days to go before the election, with 37 per cent of respondents said they would vote for the PNM, while 30 per cent said they will vote PP/UNC. The undecided respondents accounted for 31 per cent, while two per cent said they supported the Independent Liberal Party.
The poll was conducted between August 22 and 28 using a random sample of 1,000 person.
If the actual results of the elections are close to what the polls indicate it would amount to a massive victory for the PNM with approximately 54 percent of the to the (PP/UNC) 43 percent of the popular votes.
Big drop in Business Confidence
The perception of present and future business conditions fell sharply in the latest survey conduction on behalf of Bank of Jamaica in July. Deterioration was registered in both surveys among respondents relative to the previous survey.
Notably, the index of present business conditions fell sharply to 130.3 from 166.9 in the previous survey. The index of future business conditions declined to 135.2 from 148.3 in the previous survey.
The result for July is the worse since September 2014 at 123.6 for current conditions and August 2014 for future business conditions at 119.4. Both confidence levels have broken the upward movement by breaking the trend line going back to October 2013, a negative sign, suggesting the likelihood of further declines ahead. The negative development seems to be showing up in the performance of the local stock market which has stagnated over the 108,000 points on the all Jamaica Index, in spite of a fall in interest rates initiated by the country’s central bank.
Notwithstanding, the declines in the recent indices of perceptions of present and future business conditions, they have displayed a general upward trend since the April 2013 survey, bank of Jamaica stated in the report. Of course that upward trend is now broken as indicated above.
The drop in the confidence levels is probably tied in with the depreciation of the Jamaican dollar in during June and July. At the start of June the exchange between the Jamaican dollar and the US was $116.13 reaching $116.98 at the end of the month and closed out July at $117.42.
Jamaica economy crawls slowly
Real GDP is assessed to have expanded within the range of 0.5 percent to 1.5 percent for the June 2015 quarter by Bank of Jamaica, Governor of the bank, Bryan Wynter, said today.
The bank said the estimated outturn for the review quarter, “mainly reflects continued expansion in Mining & Quarrying, Hotels & Restaurants, Transport, Storage & Communication, Construction and Wholesale & Retail Trade”. There were estimated declines in Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing reflecting the impact of the intensification of dry conditions which started in the March 2015 quarter.
Given the anticipated impact of drought conditions, for FY2015/16 real GDP is forecasted to expand within the range of 1.0 per cent to 2.0 per cent. This projection is contingent on recovery in the mining and manufacturing sectors, assuming there is no recurrence of the production disruptions which occurred in the previous fiscal year. In addition, the economy is projected to continue to benefit from improvements in the business environment, consumer and business confidence as well as continued gains in external competitiveness.
New units being built at Montego Freeport in Montego Bay this year.
Declining stocks clobber advancers on JSE
VMBS Wealth acquired the bulk of shares trading in connection with the pension funds they manage.
At the close, the JSE Market Index fell 262.83 points to 98,086.58. The JSE All Jamaican Composite index lost 293.77 points to close at 108,573.44 and the JSE combined index dropped 272.27 points to end at 100,777.77.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had a reading that reflects continuation of declining stocks having the upper hand over advancing ones. There was slightly less bias to the downside, than at the close of trading on Tuesday, with Wednesday’s reading of 7 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 9 with offers that were lower.In trading, Cable and Wireless fell 1 cent with 110,387 units and closed at 42 cents, Caribbean Cement had 54,911 units changing hands at $8, Carreras closed with 1,149,666 shares trading 50 cents lower at $49.49, with the bulk of the shares being a product of the VMBS Wealth pension portfolio shift. Grace Kennedy closed with 1,400,261 shares trading $64, Jamaica Broilers traded at $7 with just 1,000 shares changing hands, with a gain of $1.40. Jamaica Stock Exchange traded 2,105,142 shares at $7.89, JMMB Group traded 8,582,455 shares, including shares associated with the VMBS Wealth pension fund change, to close at $7.52, Kingston Properties had 664,191 shares trading for a fall of $1.01 to end at $6.99, National Commercial Bank traded 569,187 shares to end with a decline of 73 cents at $28.02.
Pan Jamaican fell 25 cents to end at $61 with 802,473 units changing hands, Radio Jamaica traded 37,900 shares unchanged at $3.01, Sagicor Group with 2,973,500 shares changing hands, closed 5 cents higher at $13. Scotia Group traded 198,010 units to close with a loss of 60 cents at $23.76, Scotia Investments traded 440,000 shares to close at $27.69 for a fall of 1 cent, Supreme Ventures ended at $3.40 with 13,828 units to be down by 40 cents and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 100,000 units to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.94, for a loss of 4 cents.
JSE adds back 1,000 points on Monday
Scotia Group jumped back to $26 to help push the JSE up by more than 1,000 points.
At the close, the JSE Market Index gained 1,009.99 points to 98,771.46. The JSE All Jamaican Composite index added 1,128.88 points to close at 109,338.94 and the JSE combined index moved up 643.21 points to end at 101,721.81.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had a reading that reflects continuation of declining stocks having the upper hand over advancing ones with 4
stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 13 with offers that were lower.In trading, Cable and Wireless with 279,208 units closed at 40 cents, Caribbean Cement had 27,500 units changing hands at $8, Gleaner closed with 116,172 shares and lost 2 cents to $1.90. Jamaica Broilers traded 2 cents lower at $5.60 with 308,788 shares changing hands, JMMB Group traded 162,644 shares at $7.50, Kingston Wharves hit a new 52 weeks’ high of $7.25 by gaining 5 cents with just 1,859 shares changing hands, Mayberry Investments ended with 14,080 shares changing hands to close at $2.88 for a fall of 52 cents. National Commercial Bank traded 108,565
shares to end with a gain of $1.98 at $30, Proven Investments ordinary share traded 7,228 units to close at 21 US cents, up 0.45 cents. Radio Jamaica traded 31,470 shares with the price unchanged at $3.01, Sagicor Group with 283,978 shares changing hands, closed 4 cents lower at $12.96, Scotia Group traded 145,930 units to close at $26, by gaining $2, Scotia hand 3,900 of the shares traded at $26, 1,000 at $15.99 and 61,441 traded at $25 all the rest traded at $24.01 to a low of $23.73. Supreme Ventures ended at $3.34 with 58,896 units to be up by 4 cents and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 35,150 units at $2.
Over 3,000 points off JSE for week
NCB helped pull the JSE down by more than 3,000 points in closing at $28.02 on Friday.
At the close, the JSE Market Index fell 680.29 points to 97,761.47, for the week the index lost 3,047.20 points. The JSE All Jamaican Composite index dived 760.37 points on Friday and 3,405.92 for the week to close at 108,210.06 and the JSE combined index dropped 731.14 points for the day and 3,285.21 points for the week, to end at 101,078.60.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had a reading that reflects continuation of declining stocks having the upper hand over advancing ones with 8 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 8 with offers that were lower.In trading, Caribbean Cement had 87,642 units changing hands at $8, Carreras traded 163,263 shares at $50, Desnoes & Geddes traded 1,732,428 shares at $7, Gleaner closed with 18,416 shares and rose 12 cents to $1.92. Jamaica Broilers traded at $5.62 with 203,100 shares changing hands for a loss of 23 cents, JMMB Group traded 254,309 shares for a fall of 45 cents to $7.50,
Kingston Wharves ended with 6,000 shares changing hands to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $7.20 for a gain of 4 cents. National Commercial Bank traded 390,891 shares to end lower by 98 cents to $28.02, Palace Amusement traded 6,300 shares at $88 to add $13, Proven Investments ordinary share traded 320,000 units at 20.55 US cents, up 1.05 cents. Sagicor Group with 134,976 shares changing hands, closed 5 cents higher at $13, Scotia Group traded 166,559 units to close at $24, up 25 cents. Supreme Ventures ended at $3.30 with 15,253 units to be down by 5 cents and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 486,000 units at $2.
7 stocks fell on junior market
The JSE junior market fell on Friday while 7 stocks declined and only 1 advanced out of 12 securities that traded, resulting in 1,272,996 units, valued at $2,909,186 changing hands. The market lost 24.71 points to close at 982.87.
At the close 4 securities ended with no bids to buy, while 4 had no stocks being offered for sale and 3 stocks closed with bids higher than the last traded prices and 2 with the offers being lower.
Stocks trading are, Access Financial Services traded 367 shares to close at $13, with a fall of $2.51, AMG Packaging closed at $3.65 with only 733 units changing hands, Blue Power closed with 3,568 units changing hands at $12.28, Caribbean Cream traded 215,075 units to close 30 cents lower at $1.99. Caribbean Flavours traded 459,138 units with the price dropping 5 cents to $2.75. Caribbean Producers traded just 2,000 units for an 8 cents fall to $2.72, General Accident Insurance traded 46,569 units with the price closing 5 
cents lower, to a 52 weeks’ low of $1.25, the bid was at $1.45 to buy 220,000 shares and offered at $1.50 for sale of 273,438 units. Honey Bun with 11,526 shares changing hands and closed with a loss of 5 cents at $3.65, Lasco Distributors closed with 14,650 units trading, 16 cents lower at $1.79, Lasco Financial ended with 290,485 shares changing hands at $1.66 for a fall of 14 cents, at the close the bid was at $1.70 to buy 30,000 shares. Lasco Manufacturing with 175,657 units changing hands, closed at $1.84 and Medical Disposables traded 45,653 shares to close at $2.50.
JSE drops sharply on Wednesday
The Jamaica Stock Exchange on Wednesday closed with main market indices recording big losses, cancelling out the gains made in yesterday’s trading. The market closed with a fairly high participation rate of 33 securities changing hands accounting for 3,862,624 units trading, valued at $45,895,747 with 9 stocks rising, 16 declining with 1 stock closing at 52 weeks high, in all market segments.
At the close, the JSE Market Index fell 2,316.03 points to 99,099.31, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index dived 2,588.67 points to close at 109,705.40 and the JSE combined index dropped 2,164.74 points to end at 102,674.88.
The eve of and the actual Treasury bill auction days, historically have not been good for the local stock market. Stockbrokers main focus is on the outcome of the auction and interest rates out turn as well as how successful their bidding was. Wednesday’s sluggishness and pull back in prices could be related to this development with today being the day when Treasury bill bids are opened. At the close of trading on Tuesday the signals were for a weaker market on Wednesday as such today’s declines should come as no great surprise.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had a reading that is better than Tuesday’s reading, with only of 3 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 9 with offers that were lower. Today’s reading is 4 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 with offers that were lower, a reading that still carries some negative undertone.
In trading, Cable and Wireless had 306,499 shares changing hands with a loss of 3 cents, to end at 40 cents, Caribbean Cement had 19,000 units changing hands at $8, Gleaner closed with 23,326 shares and fell 17 cents to $2. Grace Kennedy traded firm at $64 with 54,439 shares, Jamaica Broilers traded at $6.05 with 42,876 shares changing hands, Jamaica Producers traded at $18.25 with 4,000 shares changing ownership with a loss of 25 cents. JMMB Group traded 5,909 shares at $7.95 to add 22 cents, with the company reporting strong increase in profit for the first quarter. Jamaica Stock Exchange lost altitude and traded with a decline of $1.50 to $7.50 with only 7,100 shares changing hands.
Mayberry Investments had 242,254 shares trading down 26 cents to $3.14, National Commercial Bank traded 421,180 shares to end at $30, Palace Amusement gained $10 in trading 2,500 shares to end at $75, Pan Jamaican Investment closed at $60.70 after trading 1,539 shares with a loss of $1.30. Sagicor Group with 1,077,602 shares changing hands, closed 50 cents up, at $13.50, Sagicor Real Estate Fund gained 95 cents to close at $8.75 while trading 10,095 units, Scotia Group traded 471,710 units to close at $23.70, down 80 cents, Supreme Ventures ended at $3.50 with 56,004 units to be down by $1 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 150,200 units at $2.
