JSE majors climb on Friday

March 31, 2017 by

JMMB Group advanced $1.75 on Friday.

Prices mostly rose on the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed on Thursday with trading in 23 securities while 1 security traded in the US dollar market. The markets closed with 12 stocks advancing and 5 declining.
Trading levels in main market ended at 2,632,291 units valued at $48,121,246 compared to 38,096,270 units valued at $284,292,036 at the close on Thursday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 218,885 units valued at US$65,666.
The All Jamaica Composite Index advanced 1,099.69 points to close at 245,670.39 the JSE Market Index gained 1,001.94 points to finish at 223,833.57 and the JSE US dollar market index closed at 216.59.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 12 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 7 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 106,584 units compared to an average of 1,670,779 units on Thursday. The average volume for the month to date ended at 549,909 units versus 571,020 units on the prior trading day. The average volume and value for February ended at 223,938 units and $1,379,459.
In market activity, Berger Paints traded at $12.50, gaining 50 cents with 22,148 shares being exchanged, Cable and Wireless lost 2 cents, closing at $1.25 with trades of 645,489 units, Caribbean Cement closed $1 higher to $32 with 360 units changing hands. Carreras traded 322 shares at $74, Grace Kennedy lost $1.25 to end at $41.75, with 16,424 units traded, Jamaica Broilers gained 45 cents trading 116,679 shares to close at $16.35, Jamaica Producers lost 10 cents to close at $15 with trades of 50,950 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $7, for a loss of 95 cents with an exchange of 161,347 units. JMMB Group advanced $1.75 to close at $18.24, with 460,276 units traded, Kingston Properties traded 460 units at $16.35, Kingston Wharves closed at $32 trading 100 units, Mayberry Investments closed at $4.65 with trades of 24,586 shares, NCB Financial Group gained 80 cents to close at $61.80, after exchanging 88,020 shares, Pan Jamaican gained 48 cents, closing at $35 with 24,845 shares changing hands. Sagicor Group closed at $34.10, with a 9 cent gain and trades of 507,637 shares, Sagicor Real Estate fund gained 9 cents, closing at $10.59 with 66,809 shares exchanged, Salada Foods closed at $8, for a loss of $1 trading 3,560 units, Scotia Group added $1.02 to close at $39 with trades of 239,965 units, Seprod closed at $39, after adding $1 and exchanging 10,000 shares, Supreme Ventures added 9 cents, closing at $6.08 while trading 79,472 shares. Proven Investments traded 218,885 ordinary shares at 30 US cents, JMMB 7.25% preference share closed at $2 with an exchange of 92,740 units and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share closed at $1.08 with 102 units changing owners.

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JSE stock dominates trading – Thursday

March 30, 2017 by

Jamaica Stock Exchange traded nearly 37 million shares one day after the Stock Exchange advised Sagicor Group that their holdings exceeded the limit of 10 percent stipulated in the company’s bye laws. The group bought nearly 36 million units in early March.
The main market of the Stock Exchange closed on Thursday with 23 securities changing hands with 1 trading in the US dollar market as 4 stocks advanced and 10 declined.
Trading levels ended at 38,096,270 units valued at $284,292,036 in main market compared to 2,976,903 units valued at $45,537,771 at the close on Wednesday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 4,000 units valued at US$1,200.
The All Jamaica Composite Index declined 885.03 points to close at 244,570.7 the JSE Market Index fell 806.36 points to finish at 222,831.63 and the JSE US dollar market index lost 1.28 points to close at 216.59.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 13 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 1,670,779 units with an average value of $12,367,217 units compared to an average of 80,942 units with an average value of $2,131,320 on Wednesday. The average volume for the month to date ended at 889,829 units versus 108,879 units on the prior trading day. The average volume and value for February ended at 223,938 units and $1,379,459.
In market activity, Barita Investments gained 10 cents to close at $7, with 890 shares changing hands, Cable and Wireless lost 1 cent to close at $1.27 with trades of 274,050 shares, Caribbean Cement closed $1 lower to $31 with 22,000 units changing ownership. Carreras traded 7,298 shares with gains of $2 to close at $74, Grace Kennedy closed at $43, with 38,740 units changing hands, Jamaica Broilers traded 15,198 shares at $15.90, Jamaica Producers closed 90 cents lower to $15.10 with trades of 18,200, Jamaica Stock Exchange lost 5 cents to close at $7.95 trading 35,965,186 units. JMMB Group closed at $16.49, losing 41 cents with 106,912 units traded, Kingston Properties traded 5,300 units at $16.35, Kingston Wharves gained $2.60 to close at $32, with just 200 units changing hands, NCB Financial Group slid 90 cents to close at $61, after exchanging 12,137 shares, 138 Student Living traded 60,146 shares at $4.50, Pan Jamaican gained 2 cents, closing at $34.52 while trading 5,240 shares. Pulse Investments traded 1,150 shares at $8.40, Sagicor Group closed at $34.01 with trades of 118,881 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund lost 5 cents, closing at $10.50 with 13,000 shares, Salada Foods closed at $9 trading 23,000 units, Scotia Group closed 77 cents lower to $37.98 with trades of 47,148 units, Scotia Investments traded at $39.50 with a mere 194 units changing hands, Seprod exchanged 7,245 shares at $38, Supreme Ventures lost 1 cent to close at $5.99 trading 27,155 shares. Proven fell 0.95 cent and closed at 30 US cents, with an exchange of 4,000 ordinary shares and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share closed at $1.08 with trades of 1,327,000 units.

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Another big junior market fall

March 29, 2017 by

Caribbean Flavours dropped $2 to end at $12.

Trading on the junior market fell off sharply on Wednesday from Tuesday’s levels, as demand declined leading to the average prices pulling back and the market index dropping 53.98 points to end at 2,990.48 points.
Market activity ended with only 15 securities trading, down from 25 on Tuesday as 7 stocks rose and 4 declined. A total of 699,545 units valued at $3,810,910 passed through the market, compared to 4,031,077 units valued at $23,768,156 on Tuesday.
The junior market ended trading with an average of 46,636 units for an average value of $254,061 traded, compared to 161,243 units for an average value of $950,726 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 144,675 units and $1,385,643. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 149,577 units and $1,439,528. On the immediate preceding trading day, the average volume and value for the month to date, were 149,577 units and $1,439,528. The average volume and value for February, ended at 223,938 units and $1,379,459.
Trading ended with 10 stocks had bids higher than their last sale prices and 3 ended with lower offers, than the last sale.
At the close of the market on Wednesday, AMG Packaging fell 80 cents to close at $5 with 4,331 units changing hands, CAC 2000 lost 5 cents and closed at $7.80 with 1,200 shares trading, Cargo Handlers ended trading with 800 shares at $21, Caribbean Flavours dropped $2 in trading 3,350 units to end at $12, Consolidated Bakeries ended with 22,500 shares changing hands, to close at $3. Derrimon Trading rose 28 cents and ended at $8.50 with 7,000 shares changing hands, Jamaican Teas rose 74 cents in trading 9,259 shares to close at $7.99, Jetcon Corporation gained 15 cents and closed trading with 27,870 shares being exchanged, to end at $12, Knutsford Express rose 11 cents to end at $42.11 with 424 shares changing hands, Lasco Distributors added 10 cents and ended with 50,572 units trading at $6.70, Lasco Financial regained the 50 cents lost on Tuesday, with 18,201 shares changing hands, to end at $4, Lasco Manufacturing closed with 146,851 units changing hands at $5.05, after rising 26 cents, Main Event closed at $5 with 385,051 shares changing hands, Paramount Trading had 15,136 shares changing hands, to close with a loss of 5 cents at $3.60 and tTech ended with 7,000 units changing hands at $6.27.

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JSE majors gain Wednesday

March 29, 2017 by

Trading in the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended with moderate gains in the indices at the close on Wednesday as 22 securities changed hands with 1 trading in the US dollar market. A total of 10 stocks advanced and 7 declined in the two markets.
Trading levels in main market ended at 2,976,903 units valued at $45,537,771 compared to 5,715,510 units valued at $62,017,146 at the close on Tuesday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 89,820 units valued at US$27,123.
The All Jamaica Composite Index advanced 854.89 points to close at 245,455.73 the JSE Market Index gained 778.90 points to finish at 223,637.99 and the JSE US dollar market index added 2.30 points to close at 217.87.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 6 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 80,942 units valued at an average of $2,131,320 compared to an average of 122,740 units at $3,054,945 on Tuesday. The average volume for the month to date ended at 108,879 units versus 136,817 units on the prior trading day. The average volume and value for February ended at 223,938 units and $1,379,459.
In market activity, Berger Paints gained 95 cents to close at $12, with 182,000 shares traded, Cable and Wireless lost 1 cent to close at $1.28 with trades of 42,650 shares, Caribbean Cement closed $1 higher to $32 with 1,500 units changing hands. Carreras traded 24,179 shares at $72, Grace Kennedy closed at $43, for a loss of 90 cents with 72,578 units changing owners, Jamaica Broilers traded 19,362 shares at $15.90, for a loss of 9 cents, Jamaica Stock Exchange gained $1 to close at $8 with trades of 154,500 units. JMMB Group closed at $16.90, gaining 9 cents with 7,944 units traded, Kingston Wharves fell $2.10 to close at $29.40, with 7,895 units changing hands, Mayberry Investments closed 5 cents higher to $4.65 with trades of 18,436 shares, NCB Financial Group closed at $61.90, after exchanging 70,854 shares, Pan Jamaican lost 50 cents, closing at $34.50 trading 35,938 shares. Radio Jamaica traded 80,000 shares at $1.90, Sagicor Group gained 51 cents to close at $34.01 with trades of 703,794 shares, Sagicor Real Estate fund closed at $10.55 with gains of 5 cents and 2,422 shares being exchanged, Scotia Group added 74 cents, closing at $38.75 trading 36,800 units, Scotia Investments traded 50 cents lower to $39.50 with 50,000 units changing hands, Seprod exchanged 152 shares at $38, Supreme Ventures lost 35 cents to close at $6 trading 340,569 shares. Proven closed at 30.95 US cents, gaining 0.95 cent with an exchange of 89,820 ordinary shares, JMMB 7.25% preference share rose 2 cents in trading 56,000 units at $2.41, JMMB 7.5% preference share exchanged 27,810 units at $2, and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share closed at $1.08 with trades of 1,041,520 units.

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Junior market index chopped – Monday

March 27, 2017 by

Main Event climbed 48 cents to $4.99.

Volumes on the junior market nearly doubled that of Friday’s, but the market index dropped sharply by 65.43 points to fall below the 3,000 points mark to end at 2,996.11 points.
In other matters, the Jamaica Stock Exchange corrected the report for Friday that originally showed gains of just 7.21 points, to reflect the correct change of 29.39 points, after this publication reported the error.
Market activity ended with 23 securities trading, up from 19 on Friday as 7 stocks rose and 8 declined. A total of 1,062,024 units valued at $5,541,349 passed through the market, compared to 554,250 units valued at $3,004,928 on Friday.
The junior market ended trading with an average of 46,175 units for an average value of $240,928 traded, compared to 29,171 units for an average value of $158,154 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 148,963 units and $1,463,968.
On the immediate preceding trading day, the average volume and value for the month to date, were 163,591 units and $1,582,454. The average volume and value for February, ended at 223,938 units and $1,379,459.
Trading ended with 5 stocks had bids higher than their last sale prices and 2 ended with lower offers, than the last sale.
At the close of the market on Monday, AMG Packaging closed at $5.40 with 72,300 units changing hands, CAC 2000 lost 20 cents and closed at $7.60 with 23,000 shares trading, Cargo Handlers ended trading with 1,150 shares at $21, Caribbean Flavours lost 31 cents in trading 900 units to end at $14, Caribbean Producers rose 15 cents in trading 5,243 units at $3.95, Consolidated Bakeries ended trading with 105,000 shares changing hands, to close at $3. Derrimon Trading ended at $8.60 with 5,599 shares changing hands, General Accident price declined by 20 cents to close trading with 91,700 shares at $3, Honey Bun closed with 105,677 shares changing hands at $6.50, Iron Rock had 14,000 units changing hands to close at $3.30 with a rise of 20 cents, Jamaican Teas rose 15 cents in trading 14,460 shares to close at $8, Jetcon Corporation rose $1 and closed trading with 19,797 shares being exchanged, to end at $12, Key Insurance lost 20 cents to end at $2.80 with 71,750 shares changing hands, Lasco Distributors lost 30 cents and ended with 216,050 units trading at $7, Lasco Financial rose 30 cents with 16,016 shares changing hands, to end at $4, Lasco Manufacturing closed with 227,140 units changing hands at $5, after losing 8 cents, Main Event gained 48 cents and closed at $4.99 with 27,861 shares changing hands, Medical Disposables traded 4,229, shares to close at $6, Paramount Trading had 13,132 shares changing hands, to close with a rise of 10 cents at $3.80, tTech fell 26 cents and ended with 15,000 units changing hands at $6.75. Derrimon Trading preference share ended with 3,970 units changing hands at $2, Eppley 10% preference share closed trading with 150 units at $6 and Eppley 8.25% preference share closed trading with 7,900 units at $6.

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$m in dormant accounts for Government

March 25, 2017 by

Government of Jamaica could end up getting several million dollars that currently sits in dormant accounts in the country’s banks without any transactions since 2001.
The amounts go from a high of $7 million for a resident of Christiana in Manchester to a low of a few dollars and is followed by an account with $3.26 million, for a resident of Clarendon, two accounts of more than $1 million each are listed and 3 in excess of J$853,000. Also included is an amount of US$27,022 for a resident of Hartford, Connecticut ,USA with the list including amounts of US$15,760, one for US$13317, US$ 11,857 and US$11,497.
The list which includes accounts for Bank of Nova Scotia, Citibank, First Global and Sagicor Bank, comprises around 15,000 accounts and is published in the Saturday Gleaner.
According to the notice, depositors have one year to claim the amounts, failing which they will be forfeited by the state.

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Big Berger gain lets in Scotia

March 25, 2017 by

Scotia enters IC Insider.com’s TOP 10

A big 36 percent jump in the price of Berger Paints kicked it out of the main market TOP listing, allowing Scotia Group into the top list for the very first time. Berger returned to its 52 weeks high of $15 at the end of the week but had 103,511 units on offer at $15 with buying of 1,735 units at $13.01.
The top main market stocks now sell at a 50 percent discount to the average main market stocks and is lower than the discount of stocks in the junior market.
Pulse Investments gained 21 percent during the past week, to end at $8.50 and was the second largest mover in the top listing for main market stocks. Pulse has offers for 118,391 units at $8.50 and buying at $8 for 1,500 shares. Carreras earnings have been up graded with the increase in the price of cigarettes this month, following increased taxes on the product. Interest in the stock is not great currently, with 21,125 on offer at $69.50 and buying of 2,000 shares at $69.20. Radio Jamaica closed the week with 990,792 units on offer at $1.90 and buying for 5,300 units at $1.80. Barita Investments has limited buying interest at the current price with just 447 units on the bid at $6.85 and 171,830 units on the offer at $6.90. With the increased level of construction activity currently taking place in Jamaica and plans for increase construction to meet growing demand for commercial and residential units in the sector, Caribbean Cement’s weak demand continues in the mid-thirty dollar range, with the stock closing with only 2,000 units on the bid to buy at $31.50 while offers are at $32.45 to sell 24,440 units. JMMB Group weakened in the week and now sits at $17.50 but buying is on the weak side, with 5,000 units on the bid at $16.60 and only 378 units offered at $17.50.

Top 10 junior market stocks are trading at a 40 percent discount to the average of the junior market, at the close of the week, this is after Lasco Distributors fell out of the top listing and is replaced
by Lasco Financial Services that suffered a reduction in price during the week to $3.70.
During the past week ISP Finance hit a new high of $12.25 up from $11.75 at the close of the previous week, the stock still sits high on the list at number 3. Access Financial and Jetcon had a bit of price movement during the week, with both closing lower than the week before.
Price movements remained volatile during the past week, as buy and sell orders remained thin for several stocks. With little new news to come until a flood of first quarter results start to flow volatility is likely to continue for a few weeks and this could provide patient investors with some good entry points, if bids and offers are strategically placed. The sharp one week move in Berger signals that supply may not last too long before demand kicks in.

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Stocks mostly rise in moderate trading

March 23, 2017 by

Trading in the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed Thursday with 23 securities changing hands and 1 trading in the US dollar market. In the main market, 12 stocks advanced and 7 declined in the main market.
Trading levels in main market ended at 5,370,742 units valued at $94,687,874 compared to 4,735,330 units valued at $232,334,549 at the close on Wednesday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 22,600 units valued at US$6,642.
The All Jamaica Composite Index advanced 207.42 points to close at 243,513.01 the JSE Market Index gained 188.98 points to finish at 221,867.93 and the JSE US dollar market index lost 4.47 points to end at 218.16.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 10 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 184,556 units on Thursday, compared to an average of 189,413 units on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for February, ended at 223,938 units and $1,379,459.
In market activity, Berger Paints closed at $13, with gains of 90 cents while trading 90,275 shares, Cable and Wireless closed at $1.30, adding 1 cent with trades of 211,079 units, Caribbean Cement closed 60 cents higher to $31.80 with an exchange of 9,127 units. Carreras dropped 51 cents to close at $69.50 trading 16,967 shares, Grace Kennedy closed $1.90 lower to $41.10 with 9,968 units, Jamaica Broilers gained 50 cents to close at $16, with an exchange of 31,624 shares, Jamaica Producers traded 76,500 shares at $16, Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $7.96, with 39,382 units changing hands. JMMB Group gained 48 cents, closing at $17.98 with trades of 59,426 units, Kingston Wharves advanced $1 to $31, with 144,600 units changing owners, Mayberry Investments lost 5 cents and closed at $5.20 with an exchange of 1,867 shares, NCB Financial Group slipped $1 to $61, after exchanging 76,297 shares, 1834 Investments gained 10 cents, closing at $1.60 with 500 shares changing hands, Palace Amusement jumped $5 in closing at an all-time high of $200, with just 100 units being exchanged, Pan Jamaican dropped $2.94 to close at $34.06 trading 1,665,400 shares, Portland JSX closed 99 cents higher to $10.99 in exchanging 850 units, Pulse Investments traded 27,271 units at $8.50. Sagicor Group closed at $33.50 with gains of 2 cents trading 298,726 shares, Scotia Group added 10 cents to close at $38.20, with 42,312 units traded, Seprod closed at $39 with trades of 3,160 shares, Supreme Ventures closed 29 cents higher to $6.29, with 1,516,503 shares changing hands. Proven Investments lost 4 US cents to close at 27 US cents trading 22,600 ordinary shares, JMMB Group 7.25% preference share exchanged 1,000 units at $1.50, and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share closed at $1.10 with trades of 1,047,808 units.

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Moderate inflation for Jamaica

March 16, 2017 by

Price increases in Jamaica for February this year was moderately up resulting in inflation over the past year to less than 4 percent. The Consumer Price Index for the month of February 2017 increased by 0.2 percent, following an upward movement of 0.4 percent in the previous month.
Price increases from a year ago is up 3.6 percent and for the fiscal year-to-date, 3.7 percent.
Two divisions mainly contributed to this increase. Prices for the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages division rose the most by 0.3 percent and the division of Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels was up by 0.6 percent. Higher rates for water and sewage and increases in wages for carpenters, masons, painter, plumbers and electricians were the main factors that impacted the movement for the division Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels. Lower prices for some petroleum products locally resulted in a decline in its index of 0.3 percent in Transportation.
Fall in the price of oil on the world market could impact ongoing inflation if the trend continues but recent tax increases locally with negate some of that.

Filed Under: Economy, Feature Stories Tagged With: , ,

3 all-time highs for IC TOP 10 stocks

March 13, 2017 by

Berger closed at a new all-time high on Friday

The prices of several stocks listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange underwent some sharp adjustments in the past week, and especially so on Friday, the day after government disclosed revenues measures for the 2018 fiscal year.
Nothing was disclosed to send negative signals to investors, apart from some slight increase in inflation to be caused by increased taxes on a number of items, which could be partially offset by the rise in the tax threshold for individual taxpayers. If any thing the budget sends a strong message that the next twelve months should be highly positive for investments in stocks and real estate with increased fiscal surplus that have to be generated to meet the 7 percent primary surplus, that will have some deflationary impact and lead to lower interest rates near term. While the tax on cigarettes may initially be considered negative for Carreras the increase will allow the company to garner increased revenues to cover the tax and help boost profits.
The TOP 10 junior and main market stocks saw only a few movements in and out during the past week. A number of the stocks in the list hit new highs during the week. The price of ISP Finance hit a new high of $11.50 as some supply came to the market. With limited supply and the potential for strong growth in profits the stock looks like a candidate for as split before too long. Berger Paints and Pulse Investments climbed sharply to new highs, with the former trading as high as $15 during the week but settled back at $14, up from $11.51 at the close of the previous week. Pulse Investments closed the week at $8.55 and could go higher based on the limited supply on offer at $10.
The markets continue to consolidate while awaiting early signals from 2017 first quarter results. With the TOP stocks valued well below the average of the markets’ PE ratio and at a large discount to the valuation based on 2016 earnings, around 20 times, the Top 10 stocks should continue to record gains once the bull market remains intact.
In the junior market, Dolphin Cove and Jetcon Corporation returns to the top list after exiting, at the close of the previous week and with the latter falling sharply in price to close at $11.03. The two replaced Lasco Manufacturing and AMG Packaging, two that entered in the past week. These stocks are still within striking distance for the top tier listing but market activity in the coming week could change all of that.
In the main market of the Jamaica Broilersreported strong gains in its third quarter profits and should encourage investors to bid the stock up, during the week and Berger Paints seems set to move out of the list by the close of the week and Caribbean Cream and Dolphin Cove could move out of the top list during the week.

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