Monday, 11th November 2013 | On Monday, the Jamaican Stock market almost fell a sleep with just 20 companies trading leading to a total volume of 1,000,953 shares with a value of a mere $3,260,573.

At the end of trading 6 stocks advanced in price to 4 that recorded declines. The main market index closed down marginally at 78,634.19, while the All Jamaica Index closed off at 78,528.16 and the junior market index barely inched up to close at 723.02.

Main Market | Trading in the main market resulted in Caribbean Cement swapping 14,114 units to close up 26 cents at $2.95;  Desnoes & Geddes switched ownership of 6,500 units to close at $4.80, up 28 cents; Grace Kennedy gained $1.50 to close at  $58.50 with 5,000 shares; National Commercial Bank traded 15,983 units as the price lost 50 cents to $17.50; Sagicor Life exchanged 71,641 units as it closed at $7.99, down a cent; Scotia Group closed at $18.50 up 15 cents on the day while Supreme Ventures ended with 50,000 units and closed at 10 cents, down at $2.60.

Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference shares traded 356,700 to close firm at $3.

Junior Market | Caribbean Cream traded 50,000 units at $1.05; Caribbean Producers traded 198,000 to close at $1.92; General Accident exchanged 58,635 units to close at $1.60 down a cent; Lasco Financial Services swapped 42,897 units and traded at $1.01 at the close and Lasco Manufacturing had 108,080 units to close at $1.38.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the bid-offer indicator showed that there were bids for 8 stocks higher and 3 stocks with offers lower than their last selling price.

Friday, 8th November 2013 | Volumes were very light in the entire Jamaica Stock market with the vast majority of stocks having only small trades with a mere $3,266,648 expended on 575,679 shares.

The big move of the day is the $10 drop in First Caribbean International Bank as it traded 3,367 units to close at $90, a new 52 weeks low and pulled the main market index down by 4 percent by hitting off 3,322.37 points to close at 78,679.41. In the meantime, the all Jamaica index was down by 1,368.01 to 78,607.71 and the junior market index was down 2.79 to 722.84. The number of stocks advancing was just above those that fell by 7 to 6.

Main market | In actual trading, Barita Investments had 11,672 as the price fell to $2 down 30 cents for a 52 weeks low; Caribbean Cement, fresh from reporting strong third quarter profits has shot up to $2.69 while trading only 4,386 shares for 29 cents gain; Carreras traded 10,300 and closed at $39 down; Gleaner exchanged only 5,909 closing at $1.11; Grace Kennedy moved up $2 to $57 with 2,873 units changing hands; Jamaica Broilers Group put in 5,162 units and closed firm at $4.00; Jamaica Money Market Brokers had just 6,300 units as it traded to close at $8.05; Mayberry Investments had 6,747 units at $1.90; Pan Jamaican put in 3,160 units at $48.05; Sagicor Life exchanged 7,718 units as it closed firm at $8; Scotia Group put in 76,106 units to close at $18.35, down $1.65.

Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference shares saw 26,000 units trading at $2.

Junior Market | After two days of little activity, things were a bit better on the last business day of the week as there was trading in 6 junior market companies with Caribbean Flavours exchanging 11,300 units to close at $2.65; Caribbean Producers swapped just 1,000                  units at $1.92 closing down by 8 cents; Consolidated Bakeries fresh improved results for the September quarter and the nine months enjoyed some interest with167,320 shares and closed up 9 cents at $1.25; Lasco Financial Services has failed so far to respond to continued good results traded only 20,602 unit and closed at $1 and Lasco Manufacturing had 164,772 units changing hands at $1.38.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the bid-offer indicator showed strong improvement in market sentiment reading with the bids for 9 stocks being higher and 1 stock with an offer lower than their last selling price.

Thursday, 7th November 2013 | Trading levels declined sharply on the Jamaica Stock Exchange as 470,222 units traded with a value of $3,128,802 and declining stocks out-numbered advancing ones 6 to 3 as just 18 securities traded. The market indices moved sharply with the JSE market index going up 867.83 to 82001.88 and the all Jamaica index up by 1,126.96 to close at 79,975.72. The junior market index shed 2.94 to close at 725.63.

Stocks trading included Barita Investments that fell 30 cents to hit $2 a new 52 weeks low; Berger Paints with 100,103 units at $2.15; Caribbean Cement 15,787 units up 25 cents to close at $2.40 as investors responded to strong third quarter results from the company with improving sales and interest cost reduction from debt restructuring. Carreras lost 99 cents as it traded 22,539 units to close at $39.01; Desnoes & Geddes 33,768 units closing down 23 cents to $4.52; Mayberry Investments 113,725 units at $1.90; National Commercial Bank 11,247 units as it closed down 40 cents at $18; Sagicor Life 21,242 shares closing at $8; Scotia Group 21,395 shares as the price moved up $1.95 to $20; Scotia Investments 18,942 units as it closed firm at $26 and Supreme Ventures 80,000 units as the price gained 15 cents to close at $2.70.

Only three stocks traded in the junior market with Caribbean Producers trading just 300 units as the price closed at $2; General Accident 5,000 units to close at $1.61 and Lasco Financial Services 19,725 to close at $1.01.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the bid-offer indicator showed improvement with the bids for 9 stocks being higher and 3 stocks with offers lower than their last selling price.

Wednesday, 6th November 2013 | On the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the Main Market and the All Jamaica indices fell sharply on top of Tuesday’s big decline but most of the day’s decline came from the near $4 fall of Scotia Group carried over from Tuesday.

The market main index fell 555.19 to 81,134.05, the all Jamaica indices fell 976.86 to reach 78,448.76, and the junior market index was down 3.27 to close at 728.57. The market saw 21 stocks trading resulting in 5,584,231 shares changing hands valued at $15,994,530 as 6 gained and 9 fell.

In trading, Caribbean Cement accounted for 335,727 units to close at $2.15 up 15 cents after the company reported strong increase in profit for the September quarter. Carreras had 4,121 units trading at $40, down 50 cents. Jamaica Money Market Brokers had 109,722 units changing hands firm at $8.30. Mayberry Investments exchanged 485,000 units at $1.90; National Commercial Bank had just 13,015 units trading to close at $18.40, down 9 cents; Sagicor Life had 23,310 units and closed at $8, down 10 cents. Scotia Group traded 8,392 units and closed at $18.05 and was down 5 cents; Scotia Investments 147,250 units switched ownership at $26, down a cent and Supreme Ventures 73,000 units cost $2.55 each at the end, down 5 cents.

Preference shares | Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 4,000,000 at $2 and the 8.75% preference shares exchanged 165,882 units at $3 up 10 cents.

The Junior Market had little trading with only the stocks of three companies changing hands on a day of lacklustre activity. In the process Lasco Distributors had 70,855 units trading to close at $1.45 down 5 cents and Lasco Manufacturing 13,329 shares traded to close at $1.38 down 12 cents, as the company reported improved profit for the latest quarter to September and the nine months period.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the bid-offer indicator showed slight improvement in market sentiment over Tuesday reading with the bids for 3 stocks being higher and 5 stocks with offers lower than their last selling price.

Tuesday, 5th November 2013 | Unlike the previous two trading days when the Jamaica Stock Market rose, Tuesday’s slow trading session ended up with the two main market indices clobbered as Scotia’s drop to $18 and did major damage to the indices. Advancing stocks that were in the ascendancy on Monday loss altitude and ended with only 5 stocks moving up to 9 that fell.

The JSE Index closed at 81,689.24 a drop of 1,178.76. The all Jamaica Index closed at 79,425.62 a big drop of 2,074.03 and the junior market index closed up 1.98 to end at 731.84. In overall market activity, 4.2 million shares changed hands valued at $21,752,717.

Stocks with meaningful activity are Caribbean Cement with 32,500 shares as it closed at $2; Kingston Wharves 20,000 units at $5.55, down 46 cents; Mayberry Investments 546,219 units firm at $1.90; National Commercial Bank 30,667 units at $18.49; Sagicor Investments 342,997 shares firm at $16; Sagicor Life 28,299 units as it traded firm at $8.10; Scotia Group 152,417 units as the price dropped by $3.99 to end at $18; Scotia Investments 211,499 units and the price was down $2.19 at $26.01; Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share 690,289 units traded firm at $2.

NCB Capital Market was the broker that sold the bulk of the Scotia Bank shares that took the price down to $18 with the demand side being thin which allowed for easy penetration on the downside.

Junior market | Trading picked up in the junior market with Consolidated Bakeries trading 125,000 units to close at $1.16; General Accident Insurance traded 25,745 units and ended firm at $1.70; Jamaican Teas traded 601,041 units falling 20 cents to close at $3.60 a 52 weeks low; Lasco Distributors exchanged 215,200 units at $1.50, up 5 cents; Lasco Financial Services chipped in with 808,076 shares trading to close at $1.01; Lasco Manufacturing garnered 127,500 units to close at $1.50 down 12 cents and Paramount Trading had 166,458 units changing hands unchanged at $3.30.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading there were bids for 4 stocks that were higher than their last selling prices and 3 stocks on offer lower than the last selling price.

Monday, 4th November 2013 | The Jamaica Stock Market continued where it left off on Friday with advancing stocks out pacing decliners with 8 stocks advancing to the decline of 5 and the indices with activity all climbing. The JSE Index closed at 82,868 up 677.70, the all Jamaica Index closed at 81,499.65 up 1,192.40 and the junior market index closed up 3.56 to end at 729.86. In overall market activity 7.59 million shares changed hands for a value of $64.55 million.

Stocks with meaningful activity are Cable & Wireless which traded 580,452 units to close at 15 cents; Caribbean Cement 15,075 units as the price closed at $2.10 down 9 cents; Carreras 303,000 units traded firm to close at $40; Desnoes & Geddes exchanged 1,261,066 units to close up 25 cents at $4.75 but the offer at the end of trading was $4.50; Jamaica Money Market Brokers had 3,039,900 units as the price closed up at $8.30; Mayberry Investments 65,242 units at $1.90; National Commercial Bank Jamaica 21,930 units closing firm at $18.49; Sagicor Investments exchanged 96,871 units and closed at $16; Scotia Group 727,916 shares closing up $1.99 at $21.99; Supreme Ventures 140,000 units to close at $2.60 and Proven Investments 8% was the only stock to trade in the preference segment as it resulted in 185,431 units changing ownership at $5.09.

Junior market |Trading picked up in the junior market with Consolidated Bakeries traded 53,000 to close at $1.16; General Accident Insurance traded 11,500 units being exchanged ending at $1.70, up 5 cents; KLE Group traded 44,000 units and hit another new all-time low of $1.30, down 7 cents while Lasco Financial Services chipped in with 99,999 traded units to close firm at $1; Lasco Distributors exchanged 106,640 units at $1.45 and Lasco Manufacturing garnered 847,654 units to close at $1.38 down 7 cents.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading there were bids for 3 stocks that were higher than their last selling prices and 5 stocks on offer lower than the last selling price. This trading day shows an emerging bullish market indicator with positive out numbering negatives by a wide margin.

Friday, 1st November 2013 | The IC Bid-Offer Indicator at the end of trading for the week and the first trading day for November is the strongest it has been for weeks with bids for 10 stocks higher that their last selling prices and only 1 stock on offer lower than the last selling price — a bullish indicator.

It would require more than a day with similar positive readings to confirm a sustained uptick in stock prices. What is clearly being indicated is that supply of stocks at the lower price levels is low.

The Jamaica Stock Market closed the week on a positive note even as the junior market index fell in trading today. The main indices moved up at the end of the day as 11 stocks advanced to decline of 5. The JSE Index closed at 82,190.30 up 358.14. The all Jamaica Index closed at 80,307.25 up 630.16 and the junior market index closed down 6.29 to end at 726.30. In overall market activity 4.2 million shares changed hands for a value of $25.66 million.

Stocks with meaningful activity are Caribbean Cement 49,749 units as the price closed at $2.19 up 12 cents; Carreras had 13,000 units traded up 5 cents to $40; Hardware & Lumber 11,600 as the price closed up 20 cents at $4.70; Jamaica Money Market Brokers had 10,650 units as the price closed at $8.12; National Commercial Bank Jamaica 74,867units closing up $1.49 at $18.49; Pan Jamaican Investment 11,800 unit traded firm to close at $48.01; Sagicor Investments 440,715 units closed at $15.99 while gaining 33 cents; Scotia Group 376,900 shares resulted in the stock closing firm at $20; Scotia Investments 2,000 up $2.48 to $28.5 and Proven Investments  8% was the only stock to trade in the preference segment as it resulted in 332,660 units at $5.09. JPS 9.5% non-redeemable preference shares were listed at the start of trading but did not trade nor was there a bid or offer at the close.

Junior market | Trading picked up in the junior market with Blue Power Group exchanging 75,100 units mostly at the closing price of $9.28; Caribbean Cream put in 18,000 units at $1.02 up 2 cents; Caribbean Flavours 35,387 units at $2.55; Caribbean Producers 860,000 units traded mostly at the closing price of $2 up 5 cents at the close; Dolphin Cove had 199,252 units changing hands at $8.25 as the stock gained 25 cents; General Accident Insurance had 31,830 units being exchanged ending at $1.65, up 3 cents; KLE Group traded 44000 units and hit another new all-time low of $1.37, down 3 cents while under pressure; Lasco Financial Services chipped in with 104,899 units at $1 down 12 cents and Lasco Manufacturing garnered 1,502,008 units to close at $1.45, up 4 cents.

Thursday, 31 October 2013 | Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Thursday remained subdued with stocks of 28 companies trading resulting in only 4 advancing and 12 declining with a total of 4,568,270 shares trading valued at $23,381,135. The main market indices were up as well as the US dollar index but the junior market fell.

Main Market | Trading in Carreras has been picking as investors await the dividend and profit announcement for the September quarter; the stock had 33,706 shares changing hands firm at $40, Grace Kennedy had 8,050 trading to close at $55 up $1.30 while Jamaica Broilers had 35,994 units firm at $4.50. Mayberry Investments exchanged 74,524 units at $2. National Commercial Bank traded just 32,350 units to close at $17 down $1.35 at the end. Pan Jamaican had 5,640 units traded at the end at $48.01; Proven Investments ordinary traded 198,376 units at 11.61 US cents down .0029 cents; Scotia Group 248,654 units traded to closed firm at $20.

In the preference section, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% traded 1,695,797 unchanged at $2 and the 8.75% traded 339,373 to close at $2.98, which was off by 2 cents and Proven Investments Limited 8% traded 461,875 units to close $5.09.

Juniors | The junior market has been showing more signs of weakness and the market closed the day in that same mode. In trading, Access Financial Services changed 437,251 units at $8.28; AMG Packaging dropped 50 cents in trading 10,000 units to close at $3.50 in the aftermath of the annual results showing 48 cents earnings versus 47 cents in 2012. Caribbean Cream had just 13,000 units as the price closed at $1 off by 2 cents. Caribbean Flavours 7,816 units resulted in a close of $2.55. Jamaican Teas sold 423,959 units at $3.80, off by 10 cents. Lasco Distributors 389,600 resulted in an ending price of $1.45. Lasco Financial Services 75,744 units resulted in the price falling 3 cents to $1.12 and Lasco Manufacturing exchanged 50,900 and closed at $1.41, down 4 cents.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the bid-offer indicator showed bids for 6 stocks being higher and 6 stocks with offers lower than their last selling price.