The Junior Market Index dropped 38.62 points in trading on Tuesday following a 46.73 points drop on Wednesday to close at 2,345.53 with a decline of 30 percent for the year to date but gains in some stocks in Thursday’s session, suggest that prices may be poised to rebound.
General Accident jumped $1 and closed at $6.10, a strong signal that prices of Junior stocks seem set to rise.
At the close, prices of 12 securities rose, 12 declined and nine remained unchanged, with two stocks closing at 52 weeks’ low and five traded at intraday lows.
Trading left the average market PE ratio at 11.3 times 2019 earnings as the market closed with 33 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 4,910,632 units valued at $15,136,846 compared to 4,810,590 units valued at $18,535,804 from 35 on Wednesday.
Trading ended with an average of 148,807 units for an average of $458,692 in contrast to 137,445 units for an average of $529,594 on Wednesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 156,132 units valued at $401,422 and previously 156,132 units valued at $401,422 for each company trading. 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 four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
At the close of the market, Caribbean Assurance lost 26 cents trading 527,442 stock units to close at $2.05, after hitting a record low of $1.81, 
Derrimon Trading rose 5 cents to $1.85, in transferring 3,949 shares. Dolphin Cove rose 50 cents exchanging 10,378 shares to close at $8.30, Elite Diagnostic gained 50 cents higher at $3.90, with the trading of 258,458 stock units, Express Catering shed 19 cents with 59,955 shares changing hands at $3.80. Fontana declined by 19 cents to settle at $4.51, with 1,531,748 units traded, Fosrich gained 10 cents exchanging 49,334 shares at $3.10, General Accident closed trading with 86,671 shares, after jumping $1 to end at $6.10, GWest Corporation ended trading with 51,178 shares, after rising 4 cents to settle at 85 cents. Honey Bun jumped 70 cents in trading 65,175 units at $5.90, iCreate lost 5 cents exchanging 44,700 shares to close at a 52 weeks’ low of 50 cents, Indies Pharma ended with 118,930 shares changing hands, after losing 4 cents to end at $1.96, Jamaican Teas rose 5 cents after trading of 6,057 units at $5.20. Jetcon Corporation shed 5 cents trading of 28,045 units at $1.20, 
Lasco Distributors closed trading of 147,708 units and fell 25 cents to end at $2.80, Lasco Financial added 6 cents after exchanging 34,381 shares at $2.26, Lasco Manufacturing traded 149,534 shares and lost 4 cents to end at $2.96. Limners and Bards declined by 13 cents to settle at $2.07 after exchanging 76,612 shares. Lumber Depot gained 12 cents to end at $1.29 trading 309,333 shares, MailPac rose 5 cents in transferring 847,299 shares to close at $1.48, Main Event fell 87 cents moving 48,700 units through the exchange at a 52 weeks’ low of $4.12. Paramount Trading closed 13 cents higher at $2, with 10,100 stock units trading, Stationery and Office Supplies lost 80 cents, with 57,450 units changing hands at $6.70 and tTech rose 10 cents to $4.25, trading 6,500 stock units.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Trinidad & Tobago NGL exchanged 7,950 stock units and dropped $1.50 to end at the lowest price of $17 since the stock was listed, in 2015.
At the close, the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index declined by 1,576.07 points to close at 460,418.78, the JSE Market Index fell 1,540.81 points to 419,288.78 and the JSE Financial Index gained 0.26 points to 115.87.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows nine stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three securities closing with lower offers. The PE ratio of the market ended at 16.2, while the Main Market ended at 15.3 times the 2019 earnings.
Scotia Group dropped $2.40 to end at $51, after swapping 26,251 stock units, Seprod shed $2.05 trading 33,609 shares and closed at $41.95, Supreme Ventures closed at a 52 weeks’ low of $19, with a loss of 30 cents exchanging 77,295 shares. Sygnus Credit Investments closed at $18, after falling 91 cents with 187,246 units crossing the market, Victoria Mutual Investments closed 36 cents higher to $7.20, with 363,279 shares changing hands and Wisynco Group lost $1.50 to end at $16 after trading 1,072,786 stock units.
Trading left the average market PE ratio down to 11.3 times 2019 earnings as the market closed with 35 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 4,810,590 units valued at $18,535,804 compared to 4,243,730 units valued at $12,185,925 from 34 on Tuesday.
Caribbean Assurance lost 9 cents trading 287,251 stock units at $2.31. Cargo Handlers ended 30 cents lower at a 52 weeks’ low of $6.50, in transferring 2,000 shares, Caribbean Cream shed 27 cents in trading of 65,600 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.80, Caribbean Producers closed 10 cents higher at $4, with 957 stock units trading. Consolidated Bakeries rose 5 cents to $1.50, with 100,000 stock units changing hands, Dolphin Cove lost 50 cents exchanging 2,959 shares to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $7.80, Express Catering gained 15 cents and traded 6,540 shares at $4.15. Elite Diagnostic closed 15 cents higher at $3.40, with 190,754 stock units changing hands. Fosrich climbed 21 cents and exchanged 32,222 shares at $3, Fontana declined by 28 cents to settle at $4.70, with 311,558 units traded, General Accident closed trading with 5,000 shares, after rising 60 cents to end at $5.10, GWest Corporation ended with 51,178 shares crossing the exchange, after rising 4 cents to settle at 85 cents. Honey Bun shed 8 cents in trading of 2,386,022 units at $5.20, iCreate lost 8 cents in exchanging 52,030 shares to close at a 52 weeks’ low of 55 cents, Indies Pharma ended trading with 80,850 shares, after rising 5 cents to end at $2. Jamaican Teas dipped 77 cents after trading of 62,299 units at $5.15, Key Insurance lost 80 cents in trading 11,501 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.20, KLE Group lost 27 cents in swapping 10,000 units at $1.72. Knutsford Express ended with a loss of $1 to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $8 with 475 stock units changing hands, 
Lasco Distributors closed trading of 237,643 units and gained 6 cents to end at $3.05, Lasco Financial added 2 cents after exchanging 63,511 shares at $2.20, Lasco Manufacturing ended trading with 172,385 shares and rose 5 cents to end at $3. Limners and Bards declined by 30 cents to settle at $2.20 after exchanging 100,371 shares. Lumber Depot gained 1 cent to end at $1.17 trading 140,824 shares, MailPac lost 2 cents in transferring 279,788 shares to close at $1.43, Main Event fell 11 cents in transferring 28,885 units at $4.99, Medical Disposables dipped 3 cents in trading of 11,975 units at $5.70. Paramount Trading closed 7 cents higher at $1.87, with 42,525 stock units trading and Stationery and Office Supplies lost 50 cents in exchanging 20,500 units at $7.50.
The T&T Composite Index declined by 8.87 points to 1,490.31. The All T&T Index dropped 14.11 points to end at 1,906.20, while the Cross Listed Index dipped 0.48 points at 145.547.
Trinidad & Tobago NGL traded 15,225 stock units and shed 50 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ low of $18.50 and Trinidad Cement exchanged 4,382 units and lost 6 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.75.
In the Main Market, Barita Investments gained 80 cents trading 59,211 shares and closed at $62.30, Berger Paints added $1 to end at $13, in transferring 1,800 units, Caribbean Cement shed $2.99 to settle at $55.01, in exchanging 66,781 shares, Eppley closed at $13.50, after losing $2.50 swapping 2,654 units. Eppley Caribbean Property Fund ended $2.30 lower to $37.70, with 45,951 shares changing hands, First Rock Capital added 41 cents to finish at $12, in transferring 41,882 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange fell to $23.05, with a loss of 94 cents in exchanging 108,430 shares. Kingston Properties gained 34 cents trading 6,026,693 units and closed at $5.84, Mayberry Jamaican Equities lost 30 cents to close at $9.60, with 2,500 units changing hands, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy advanced $2.98 to $149.98, in trading 300 units. PanJam Investment ended the day at $87.80, with a loss of $1.20 after transferring 63,172 shares, Portland JSX Fund ended $1.50 higher to settle at $9, in swapping 5,408 units, Proven Investments gained $1 to finish at $39.50, after trading 18,556 stock units. Pulse Investments lost 60 cents to close at $9.40, with an exchange of 75,638 shares, Sagicor Group dropped $3 to end at $57, in transferring 209,650 shares. 
Scotia Group added $1.40 to end at $53.40, after swapping 1,495 units, Seprod gained $1 trading 493,572 stock units and closed at $44, Stanley Motta closed 35 cents higher to $5.20, with an exchange of 88,500 units, Supreme Ventures closed at $19.30, after losing $1.70 transferring 364,466 shares. Sygnus Credit Investments closed at $18.91, with a loss of $2.04 swapping 110,256 stock units, Victoria Mutual Investments ended 84 cents higher to settle at $6.84, with 446,117 shares changing hands and Wisynco Group gained 50 cents to end trading 501,131 shares at $17.50.
Trading on the Junior Market concluded with 34 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 4,243,730 units valued at $12,185,925 compared to 13,538,971 units valued at $24,108,315 on Monday. The average market PE ratio is now down to 11.4 times 2019 earnings.
Caribbean Assurance Brokers lost 5 cents to close at $2.40 after exchanging 677,685 shares, Caribbean Flavours ended trading with 4,493 shares after rising 2 cents to end at $10.17, Consolidated Bakeries closed with a loss of 18 cents at $1.45 in swapping 68,200 shares. Derrimon Trading dropped 12 cents in trading 59,100 stock units to close at $1.80, Elite Diagnostic fell 5 cents to $3.25 with 92,270 shares traded, Everything Fresh exchanged 195,169 shares at 85 cents after rising 3 cents, Fontana closed 23 cents higher at $4.98 with 1,102,650 stock units trading. Fosrich gained 4 cents to settle at $2.79 with 27,361 shares changing hands, GWest Corporation shed 17 cents in trading of 110,900 units at 81 cents, Honey Bun ended with a loss of 1 cent at $5.28 with 2,153 stock units changing hands. iCreate added 1 cent and exchanged 35,606 shares at 63 cents, Indies Pharma fell 7 cents in exchanging of 16,375 units at 52 weeks low of $1.95, ISP Finance shed 25 cents to settle at $19.75 with 1,000 shares changing hands. 
Jamaican Teas jumped 92 cents exchanging 2,450 shares at $5.92, Lasco Distributors traded 5,100 shares and ended at $2.99 after rising 19 cents, Lasco Financial dipped 28 cents in trading of 50,200 units at a 52 weeks’ closing low of $2.18 after trading at a 52 week’s intraday low of $1.90. Lasco Manufacturing lost 20 cents to settle at $2.95 with an exchange of 92,041 stock units, Limners and Bards traded 46,886 shares after rising 10 cents to end at $2.50, Lumber Depot slipped 9 cents in exchanging 391,523 shares to close at 52 weeks’ low of $1.16. MailPac dipped 5 cents in trading of 519,691 units at $1.45, Medical Disposables shed 57 cents with 15,934 units crossing the exchange at $5.73, Paramount Trading closed 10 cents higher at $1.80 with the swapping of 11,000 shares and tTech rose 15 cents to $4.15 with 46,700 shares changing hands.
The T&T Composite Index lost 2.68 points to close at 1,499.18. The All T&T Index advanced 1.51 points to end at 1,920.31, while the Cross Listed Index closed with a decline of 0.94 points at 146.02.
JMMB Group declined by 15 cents to $2.25 in trading 21,000 units.
The market closed with 47 securities changing hands in the Main and US dollar markets with the prices of 13 stocks advancing, 27 declining and seven securities trading firm. The JSE Main Market activity ended with 43 securities accounting for 28,292,088 units valued at $246,450,479 in contrast to 28,587,236 units valued at $124,299,870 from 41 securities on Friday.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows seven stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and four stocks closing with lower offers. The PE ratio of the market ended at 16.7, while the Main Market ended at 15.9 times the 2019 earnings.
Sagicor Real Estate Fund closed 93 cents lower at $8.80, with an exchange of 9,592,783 shares, Salada Foods settled at $29, with gains of 50 cents trading 1,857 units, Scotia Group climbed $2 to $52, in transferring 523,149 shares. Seprod gained $1 exchanging 63,730 shares to end at $43, Supreme Ventures rose $1.30 and closed at $21, after trading 40,678 stock units, Sygnus Credit Investments closed at $20.95, with gains of $2.80 swapping 72,927 units. Victoria Mutual Investments ended 80 cents lower to settle at $6, with 987,897 shares changing hands and Wisynco Group dropped $1.10 to $17 in transferring 493,670 stock units.
The fall in the market took the 2019 losses to 28.4 percent and the fall from the peak to whopping 35 percent.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
Knutsford Express closed with a loss of $1.10 at $9 swapping of 7,100 shares. Lasco Financial shed 64 cents in exchanging 190,506 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.46, Lasco Manufacturing closed 15 cents higher at $3.15, with 191,907 stock units trading after falling to an intraday low of $2.50. Limners and Bards fell 4 cents in transferring 123,710 units at $2.40, Lumber Depot ended market activity exchanging 775,632 shares to close at $1.25, after falling 12 cents, MailPac lost 20 cents in trading of 10,135,145 units at $1.50. Main Event fell 89 cents to end at $5.10, after trading 29,501 shares, Medical Disposables closed trading of 5,240 units and gained 7 cents to end at $6.30. Paramount Trading fell 24 cents in an exchange of 100,000 units at $1.70, SSL Venture closed with a loss of 10 cents at $1.02, after swapping 106,000 shares and tTech fell 70 cents to $4, after transferring 7,357 stock units.
