The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange bounced for five trading days out of the last seven and closed the week on a strong note with 34 securities changing hands and leading to the prices of 21 securities rising, while eight declined and five remained unchanged.
The Junior Market Index advanced by 50.32 points to close at 2,144.08 after an exchange of 3,982,260 units accounting for $9,382,200 compared to 4,329,260 units valued at $9,680,619 on Thursday.
Trading ended with an average of 117,125 units for an average of $275,947 in contrast to 108,232 units for an average of $242,015 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to units 215,698 valued at $506,536 and previously 220,993 units valued at $518,921. In contrast, February closed with an average of 167,673 units valued at 488,038 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows five stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and none with a lower offer.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging declined 14 cents in trading of 23,450 units at $1.51, CAC 2000 ended market activity exchanging 3,000 shares to close at $10 after falling $1.40, Caribbean Cream ended trading with 15,433 shares, after rising 65 cents to end at $2.76. Caribbean Flavours ended with a loss of $1 at a 52 weeks’ low of $9 with 1,106 stock units changing hands, Caribbean Producers declined 25 cents in trading 98,606 units at $2.25, Elite Diagnostic climbed 15 cents and exchanged 57,904 shares at $2.75. Everything Fresh closed with a loss of 3 cents at 57 cents in swapping 10,000 shares, Express Catering ended trading with 69,873 shares, after rising 10 cents to end at $3. Fontana closed 20 cents higher at $4.45, with 189,405 stock units changing hands. Fosrich closed 25 cents higher at $2.50, in trading 1,000 stock units, General Accident declined by 5 cents to settle at $4.50 trading 44,789 shares, GWest Corporation closed 13 cents higher at 85 cents, with 9,824 stock units changing hands. Honey Bun ended trading 32,000 shares, after rising 20 cents to close at $5.90, iCreate ended with 19,557 shares crossing the exchange, after rising 5 cents to end at 50 cents. Indies Pharma climbed 47 cents and exchanged 370,612 shares at $1.97, Iron Rock Insurance climbed 45 cents to $3.45, in swapping 1,000 units, ISP Finance lost $1 to close at $13 with 5,000 stock units changing hands. 
Jamaican Teas gained 6 cents and exchanged 16,160 shares at $3.99, Knutsford Express gained $1 to end at $7, with 1,740 stock units trading. KLE Group closed trading of 1,000 units and gained 4 cents to end at $1.25, Lasco Distributors added 10 cents in exchanging 537 shares at $3, Lasco Manufacturing lost 90 cents in trading of 1,457,018 units at $2.75. Lumber Depot rose 1 cent, transferring 787,765 shares at $1.21, MailPac closed trading of 451,161 units and gained 9 cents to end at $1.50, Main Event jumped 65 cents and closed at $4.50 after transferring 27,477 units. Medical Disposables climbed 80 cents and exchanged 14,650 shares at $6.50, Stationery and Office Supplies traded 2,112 shares, after rising 20 cents to end at $6 and tTech closed 75 cents higher at $4.25, with 50,000 stock units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
At the close of trading, five securities changed hands, accounting for 2,129,328 units exchange for a value of US$64,366, in contrast to 5,389,685 units for $89,826 on Thursday. The market Index advanced 0.60 points to close at 197.53, with a loss of 12.7 percent for the year to date. The average PE ratio for US dollar-listed stocks is 20.7 times 2019 earnings but with the typical average being just under 14 when excluding the large ones.
Trading in February resulted in an average of 624,731 units valued at $3,239,665 for each security.
NCB Financial Group closed $2 higher at $154, in trading 41,906 shares, 138 Student Living shed 81 cents to end at $4.69 exchanging 6,216 units, Portland JSX closed $1.60 lower to $7.30 after transferring just 416 units. Proven Investments ended at $35, after falling by $1 in trading 19,278 shares, Sagicor Group jumped $4.20 to $46.60, with 70,977 stock units changing hands, Sagicor Real Estate Fund fell 82 cents to $6.60 with the transfer of 5,774 units. Scotia Group climbed $3.50 to finish at $47.50 and trading 77,214 shares, Seprod added $2 to end at $39, with an exchange of 41,696 shares, Sterling Investments picked up 30 cents to close at $2.80, in transferring 1,300 units. Victoria Mutual Investments ended at $6.54, with gains of 48 cents and exchanging 160,790 shares and Wisynco Group closed at $13.30, with a loss of 70 cents after 558,494 shares crossed the exchange.
National Flour ended at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.10, with a loss of 10 cents transferring 750 units and NCB Financial declined by $1.01 to $8.99, with 5,862 stock units changing hands.
The PE ratio of the market ended at 14.9, while the Main Market ended at 13.8 times 2019 earnings.
Portland JSX closed $1.60 higher to $8.90 after the transferring of 2,005 units. Proven Investments jumped $3.50 to $36, after exchanging 51,818 shares, Sagicor Group advanced by $2.40 to $42.40, in swapping 608,061 shares, Scotia Group regained ground with gains of $7 to settle at $44, with 170,469 shares changing hands. Seprod added $1 to end at $37, in trading 30,390 units, Stanley Motta shed 74 cents with a transfer of 7,500 units to end at $5. Sterling Investments closed 40 cents lower at $2.50 trading 68,830 units, Supreme Ventures ended at $14, with a loss of 99 cents exchanging 252,623 shares, Sygnus Credit Investments closed 53 cents lower to $16.50, trading 22,971 units and Wisynco Group swapped 840,773 shares at $14, after gaining $1.30.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows five stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
Key Insurance ended with a loss of 1 cent at 2 with 80,000 stock units changing hands, KLE Group closed with 47,367 shares, changing hands after rising 1 cent to end at $1.21, Knutsford Express ended with a loss of $1 to finish at $6 with 3,211 stock units changing hands. Lasco Distributors shed 10 cents in trading of 30,601 units at $2.90, Lasco Financial climbed 5 cents and exchanged 344,486 shares at $2.55, Lasco Manufacturing rose 15 cents and transferred 40,200 shares at $3.65. Limners and Bards lost 5 cents in trading 209,671 shares to close at $1.80, Lumber Depot closed 5 cents higher at $1.20, with 1,302,525 stock units trading, MailPac ended with 402,140 shares crossing the exchange, after rising 4 cents to end at $1.41. Main Event declined by 65 cents in trading of 69,210 units at $3.85, Medical Disposables ended market activity exchanging 72,841 shares to close at $5.70 after falling 40cents, Paramount Trading closed 8 cents higher at $1.98, with 4,000 stock units trading. Stationery and Office Supplies picked up 30 cents and exchanged 6,782 shares at $5.80 and tTech ended market activity trading 5,000 shares to close at $3.50 after falling 20 cents.
The decline in the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange continued unabated into Thursday as declining stocks dominated rising ones leading to the T&T Composite Index falling 2.54 points to 1,361.21 and the All T&T Index slipping 5.87 points to 1,755.62 as the Cross Listed Index inched 0.11 points higher at 130.94.
One Caribbean Media ended at a 52 weeks’ low of $6.95, after losing 5 cents in exchanging 1,018 units, Republic Financial Holdings shed 20 cents to end at $141.52 with 17,778 shares changing hands and West Indian Tobacco declined by $1.09 to $33.66, in swapping 4,323 stock units.
Trans Jamaican Highway is once more the most dominant traded stock in the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market on Thursday, accounting for 97 percent of the day’s volume, just a fraction up on Wednesday’s level of 96.6 percent of the total volume traded. 
The average volume and value for the month to date amount to 899,129 units valued at $6,578,450 for each security changing hands compared to 775,631 units valued at $6,653,987 for each company traded. Trading in February resulted in an average of 624,731 units valued at $3,239,665 for each security.
Kingston Wharves closed, with gains of $2 at $44 in trading 2,440 stock units, Mayberry Investments lost 50 cents transferring 27,849 shares to end at a 52 weeks’ low of $5. NCB Financial advanced $5 to $145, trading 67,140 units, 138 Student Living gained 39 cents to close at $4.50, with an exchange of 481 shares, PanJam Investment declined $2 to $78, with 49,817 units crossing the exchange. Portland JSX shed 50 cents trading 17,000 stock units and closed at $7.30, Proven Investments fell $4.98 to $32.50, after transferring 9,581 units, Sagicor Real Estate Fund lost 40 cents to close at $7.40, in swapping 900 stock units. Scotia Group closed 99 cents lower to end at $37, in exchanging 117,469 shares, Seprod ended the day’s trade at $36, with gains of $1 after 10,932 shares changed hands, Stanley Motta added 44 cents with a transfer of 25,175 units to end at $5.74. Sterling Investments closed 65 cents higher to $2.90, trading 116,210 shares, Supreme Investments ended at $14.99, after gaining 99 cents exchanging 433,163 stock units and Wisynco Group closed at $12.79, with a loss of 79 cents after trading 161,608 shares.
