Stocks mostly gained at the close of trading on the Junior Market on Tuesday with the market Index declining 14.45 points to close at 3,218.50 as 25 securities changed hands versus 20 on Monday.
At the close on Tuesday just, with 6 stocks rising, 10 declining and 9 remaining unchanged with an exchange of 1,254,634 units valued at $4,719,006 compared to 1,232,739 units valued at $4,669,444 on Monday.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator closed Tuesday with 4 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, while 2 closed with lower offers.
Trading ended with an average of 50,185 units for an average of $188,760 in contrast to 53,597 units for an average of $203,019 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 106,499 units valued at $554,839 and previously 114,409 units valued at $518,311. October, ended with an average of 69,421 units valued at $347,455 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Blue Power concluded trading with a loss of 1 cent at $5.49, with 916 units, Cargo Handlers settled at $13, in trading 7,708 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading at $6, with 115,002 shares, Caribbean Producers finished trading of 40,261 units, with a loss of 49 cents at $5.51, Consolidated Bakeries closed at $2, with an exchange of 43,693 shares. Derrimon Trading ended at $2.70, with the swapping of 40,500 shares, Dolphin Cove concluded trading with a loss of 8 cents at $14.80, with 2,756 shares changing hands, Elite Diagnostic finished 21 cents higher at $3.40, with an exchange of 2,606 stock units, Everything Fresh lost 10 cents, in closing trading with 75,706 shares to close at of $1.90, Express Catering ended trading of 5,850 shares with a loss of 1 cent at $7.99. FosRich Group traded 95,406 shares, with a loss of 55 cents to end at $3.20, General Accident finished trading 178,900 shares, to close 15 cents higher at $3.75, GWest Corporation closed with a loss of 20 cents at $1.80, with 33,757 stock units trading, Honey Bun ended at $3.99, with 2,900 units passing through the market. Indies Pharma ended trading 
of 52,586 shares and gained 10 cents to close at $3.10, Jetcon Corporation ended trading with a loss of 7 cents at $3.85, with 70,501 stock units after trading as high as $4.50, Key Insurance traded 300,000 units at $3.25, Lasco Distributors ended with a loss of 10 cents at $3.90, with 4,000 shares being exchanged, Lasco Financial concluded trading 19 cents higher at $5.19, with 4,611 stock units. Lasco Manufacturing finished at $3.17, trading 115,688 units, Main Event settled with a loss of 5 cents at $5.55, with an exchange of 10,200 shares, Medical Disposables ended trading 14,200 shares and close 10 cents higher at $8.10, SSL Venture Capital traded 17,050 shares at $1.81, Stationery and Office finished trading of 19,737 stock units and moved 30 cents higher to $9.50 and tTech ended activity at $6, in exchanging just 100 shares.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Republic & Witco climb again on TTSE
Republic Financial climbed $1 to a 52 weeks’ high of $111 and West Indian Tobacco rose 30 cents on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Tuesday and remained poised for more gains.
West Indian Tobacco closed higher slightly higher but closed with the bid at $94.20 to buy 3,950 shares with none on offer at the close, as investors respond to improved results and a pending stock split.
Market activities ended with 16 securities trading versus 12 on Monday, 8 advancing, 5 declining and 3 remaining unchanged. The market closed with one stock trading at 52 weeks’ high and two at 52 weeks’ low as 135,571 units valued at 824,024 traded, compared to 449,177 units valued at 8,056,501 changing hands on Monday.
The Composite Index climbed 3.03 points to 1,251.43. The All T&T Index rose 4.81 points to 1,715.01, while the Cross Listed Index rose 0.16 points to close at 106.05.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading closed with 3 stocks ending with higher bids than the last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
Stocks closing with gains| Clico Investments ended trading with a rise of 20 cents to close at $20.20, with 3,205 stock units changing hands, First Citizens finished 26 cents higher and completed trading at $33, after exchanging 4,061 shares, JMMB Group concluded trading of 105,700 shares and gained 8 cents to settle at $1.80, National Flour added 6 cents and ended at $1.68, with 500 units trading, Republic Financial Holdings gained $1 in settling at $111, after exchanging just 10 shares. Trinidad & Tobago NGL increased 1 cent and completed trading at $29.51, after exchanging 8,284 shares, Trinidad Cement rose 5 cents and settled at $2.70, exchanging 4,100 shares and West Indian Tobacco closed with a gain of 30 cents and ended at $94.50 trading 245 units.
Stocks closing with losses|Agostini’s lost 20 cents and settled at $23.20, after exchanging 421 shares, Angostura 
Holdings ended trading 10 cents lower at $15.60, with 64 stock units changing hands, Massy Holdings concluded trading of 1,269 shares with a loss of 17 cents to close at $46.83, Prestige Holdings traded with a loss of 20 cents and ended at a 52 weeks’ low of $7.30, with 1,000 units and Sagicor Financial closed with a loss of 1 cent and ended at a 52 weeks’ low of $7.39, with 2,050 stock units changing hands.
Stocks trading with no price change| National Enterprises closed at $8.44, with 100 stock units changing hands, NCB Financial Group completed trading at $6.50, after exchanging 3,949 shares and Scotiabank ended at $64.50, as just 613 units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
JSE main market in modest gain on Monday
The Jamaica Stock Exchange main market made modest gains in closing of Monday but with an adverse advance decline ratio.
Market activity closed with 29 active securities in the main and US dollar markets, compared to 27 on Friday with the prices of 9 stocks rising, 12 declining and 8 remaining unchanged.
The All Jamaica Composite Index rose 2 437.04 points to close at 392,915.10 and the JSE Index gained 398.19 points to close at 357,990.13.
Main market trading closed with Carreras leading with 712,517 units, or 28 percent of the day’s volume and Wisynco Group with 397,647 units and 15.7 percent of volume traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows just 1 stock ending with the bid higher than the last selling price and 4 closing with lower offers.
Trading closed with 2,530,491 units valued at $58,080,585 changing hands compared with 4,441,819 units valued at $191,130,108 being exchanged, on Friday.
Trading resulted in an average of 93,722 units valued at over $2,151,133, in contrast to 177,673 shares valued at $7,645,204 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date, amounts to 292,443 valued at $2,890,696, compared to 317,399 valued at $2,996,910. October closed, with an average of 290,851 shares, valued $5,213,901, for each security traded.
In the main market activity, Caribbean Cement added $1.75 to close at $44 in trading of 18,535 shares, Grace Kennedy lost 30 cents in trading 9,286 shares to close at $55.70, Jamaica Broilers lost 50 cents to end at $28.50, trading 15,793 shares, JMMB Group fell 90 cents and ended at $33, with an exchange of 110,598 shares, Kingston Wharves jumped $2 to $78 trading 5,725 shares, Mayberry Investments shed 50 cents to 
settle at record high of $10, in exchanging 10,100 units, PanJam Investment gained $1 in closing at $64, with an exchange of just 500 stock units, Sagicor Group declined $1.50 to $38.50, trading 42,898 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund fell 50 cents and settled at $12, trading 943 shares, Scotia Group rose 50 cents in trading 145,471 shares to close at $50.50, Seprod lost $2 and finished trading of 17,539 shares at $36,and Supreme Ventures rose $1, ending at $17, trading 126,262 units.
Trading in the US dollar market ended with 12,200 units valued at over US$20,506 traded, with JMMB Group 5.75% percent preference share completed trading of 10,000 to end at $2 and Proven investments completed trading of 2,200 shares and gained 3 cents to end at 23 U$ cents. The JSE USD Equities Index advanced by 10.30 points to close at 175.63.
Junior Market gained on Monday
The Junior Market followed up gain on Friday with another increase on Monday with the market Index advancing 17.44 points to close at 3,232.95.
At the close on Monday just 23 securities changed hands versus 20 on Friday, with 5 stocks rising, 10 declining and 8 remaining unchanged leading the Junior Market Index to gain 14.49 points to close at 3,215.12
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading turned positive at the close of Monday with 5 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, while one closed with a lower offer.
The day’s activity ended with an exchange of 1,232,739 units valued at $4,669,444 compared to 1,378,210 units valued at $4,765,299 on Friday.
Trading ended with an average of 53,597 units for an average of $203,019 in contrast to 68,911 units for an average of $238,265 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 114,409 units valued at $518,311 and previously 123,432 units valued at $565,096. October, ended with an average of 69,421 units valued at $347,455 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial lost 50 cents to close at $49.50, in trading 175 shares, Cargo Handlers settled at $13, in exchanging 200 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading 70 cents higher at $6, with 9,000 shares, Caribbean Producers traded 2,000 units at $6, Consolidated Bakeries closed at $2 in swapping 150 shares. Derrimon Trading ended with a loss of 8 cents at $2.70, as 50,945 shares changed hands, Elite Diagnostic finished with a loss of 21 cents at $3.19, with an exchange of 17,459 stock units, Everything Fresh closed trading with 27,394 shares to close at $2, Express Catering ended trading at $8, with 10,000 shares, FosRich Group traded 28,212 shares with an increase of 55 cents to $3.75. General Accident finished trading 2,400 shares and rose 10 cents to close at $3.60, 
GWest Corporation closed 10 cents higher at $2, with 1,913 stock units changing hands, Honey Bun ended with a loss of 1 cent at $3.99, while exchanging 7,530 units, Jamaican Teas settled with a loss of 5 cents at $3.90, with 13,115 shares trading. Indies Pharma ended trading 130,739 shares and declined 10 cents to close at $3, Jetcon Corporation ended trading 17 cents higher at $3.92, with 246,091 stock units, Knutsford Express closed at $12, in trading 1,200 shares, Lasco Distributors ended with a loss of 5 cents at $4, with 189,595 shares changing hands, Lasco Financial concluded trading with a loss of 25 cents at $5, with 160,971 stock units. Lasco Manufacturing lost 1 cent to close at $3.17, with 312,100 units, Medical Disposables ended trading 10,000 shares with a loss of 30 cents at $8, SSL Venture Capital traded 10,000 shares at $1.81 and Stationery and Office finished trading 1,550 stock units at $9.20.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Republic & Witco set for sharp jump on TTSE
Republic Financial climbed $2.95 concluded at $110 on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Monday and is poised to climb higher with the bid at $110 to buy 11,789 shares while the stock is offered at $120 to sell 15,407 units.
The gain comes after the financial Caribbean financial powerhouse reported the acquisition of 75 percent ownership of the profitable Cayman National Bank.
West Indian Tobacco closed higher but ended with the bid at $94.20 to buy 3,950 shares with no stock on offer at the close, as investors respond to improved results and a pending stock split.
Market activities ended with 12 securities trading versus 12 on Friday, with 5 advancing, 4 declining and 3 remaining unchanged. The market closed with two stocks trading at 52 weeks’ low as 449,177 units valued at 8,056,501 traded, compared to 451,756 units valued at $6,455,226 changing hands on Friday.
The Composite Index climbed 3.75 points to 1,248.40. The All T&T Index rose 9.68 points to 1,710.20, while the Cross Listed Index declined 0.32 points to close at 105.89.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading closed with 3 stocks ending with higher bids than the last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
Stocks closing with gains| First Citizens closed with an increase of 8 cents and settled at $32.74, after exchanging 60 shares, Guardian Holdings ended trading with 9 cents and completed trading at $17, with 38,125 units changing hands, 
JMMB Group finished 8 cents higher and concluded market activity at $1.72, after exchanging 12,350 shares, Republic Financial Holdings to gained $2.95 and ended at $110, after exchanging 3,865 shares and West Indian Tobacco gained 20 cents and completed trading of 1,191 units at $94.20.
Stocks closing with losses|First Caribbean International Bank ended trading 20,000 units, 15 cents lower at $8.30, National Flour concluded trading of 15,000 units with a loss of 3 cents at $1.62, Sagicor Financial traded with a loss of 2 cents and ended at $7.40, with 26,000 stock units changing hands and Unilever Caribbean shares fell 50 cents and ended at a multi-year low of $23.50, with 232,634 stock units changing hands.
Stocks trading with no price change| NCB Financial Group settled at $6.50, after exchanging 86,291 shares, Scotiabank completed trading at $64.50, with 1,000 units and Trinidad & Tobago NGL settled at $29.50, after exchanging 12,661 shares.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Stocks to Watch This week
NCB Financial Constant Spring Road.
Last week’s stock to watch, former IC Top 10 listing, NCB Financial, released record full year results and announced an interim dividend of 70 cents per share with investors welcoming the news by driving the stock to a record intraday high of $135.
The stock closed the week at $133 with good volume passing through the market. Demand is building for NCB Financial between $125 and $131, with offers at $133, $135 and then at $138. The stock could make more gains in the week if demands picks up. Technical chart shows NCB Financial heading to $155, an area of potential resistance, that means that the current price is not very far from the short-term target.
This coming week, several companies will report results for the third quarter. Some of them could result in stock price movements. Other stocks to watch this week are Stationery and Office Supplies that should report third quarter results that should benefit from profit from the new book manufacturing business as well as from contract that was being worked on from the second quarter and slated for completion in the third quarter. Seprod is another to watch, now that the allocation of the 92 million shares that were recently offered to the public should be known on Monday. Third quarter results will be pasted during the week but when that is combined with the likelihood that many investors will end up getting only a small amount of the shares they applied for, it will be anyone guess what impact both could have on the price in the secondary market.
Following the release of full years’ results with an increase of 84 percent to $374 million and a 315 percent increase in the last quarter to $193 million at Barita Investments, investors have been buying the stock in a second wave of demand, its one to be watched going forward. The Jamaica Stock Exchange has been enjoying increasing trading in the second half of the year and this is expected to provide a big boost in profit for the quarter and year to date, the stock should benefit in the coming week from this.
Scotia Group eases into IC Top 10
Scotia Group could see strong growth in 2019 profit.
Scotia replaced Berger Paints that was merely squeezed out to sit just outside the TOP 10 at the number 11 spot. Top 10 list movements were modest for the past week, following the previous week of volatility. In the Junior Market, Honey Bun sneaked into the TOP 10 by easing out Jamaican Teas in the process.
Scotia Group, reported flat profits for the nine months from normal ongoing operations. Gains from sales of Credi Scotia and exceptional foreign exchange gains in the July quarter push profit
up well above that of 2017. Importantly, the best indicator going forward for increased profitability, is growth in loans. During the July quarter loans grew a strong 3.7 percent between April which works out at an attractive 15 percent per year that should equate to 25-30 percent profit growth in 2019 if the trend continues.The main market closed the week with the overall PE slipping to 15.3 from 15.6 from the previous week, the PE of the Junior market remained unchanged at 5.5 from the prior week.
The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks average 9.3 and the main market PE is now 9.7.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 40 percent to the average for the Junior Market Top stocks but it’s a third of what the average PE for the year is likely to be of 20 times earnings. The main market stocks trade at a discount of 37 percent to the overall market.TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns within a 12 months period. Stocks are selected based on projected earnings for each company’s current fiscal year. Based on
an assumed PE for each, the likely gains are determined and then ranked, with the stocks with the highest potential gains ranked first followed by the rest, in descending order. Potential values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Earnings per share are revised on an ongoing basis based on new information received that can result in changes in and out of the list as well.
JSE main market rose again on Friday
The Jamaica Stock Exchange main market made more gains in the indices in closing of Friday further eroding the 13,784 points lost between Monday and Wednesday.
Market activity closed with 27 active securities in the main and US dollar markets, compared to 26 on Thursday with the prices of 9 stocks falling, 9 rose and 9 remained unchanged.
The All Jamaica Composite Index rose 2,458.12 points to close at 392,478.06 and the JSE Index gained 2,239.62 points to close at 357,591.94.
Main market trading closed with NCB Financial leading with 857,402 units, or 19.3 percent of the day’s volume, Victoria Mutual Investments with 787,348 units and 17.7 percent of volume traded and Jamaica Broilers with 723,426 units with 16.3 percent of the day’s volume.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows just 1 stock ending with the bid higher than the last selling prices and 4 closing with lower offers.
Trading closed with 4,441,819 units valued at $191,130,108 changing hands compared with 1,665,733 units valued at over $37,959,691 being exchanged, on Thursday.
Trading resulted in an average of 177,673 units valued at over $7,645,204, in contrast to 35,241 shares valued at $1,941,745 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date, amounts to 317,399 valued at $2,996,910, compared to 335,784 valued at $2,283,981. October closed, with an average of 290,851 shares, valued $5,213,901, for each security traded.
In the main market activity, Caribbean Cement shed 75 cents to close at $42.25 in closing trading of 31,531 shares, Grace Kennedy jumped $2.90 in trading 12,730 shares to close at $56, Jamaica Producers lost $1.51 to end at $23, trading 234,083 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange rose 45 cents to close at $10.45, with 69,004 shares traded,
JMMB Group rose 89 cents and ended at $33.90, with an exchange of 37,478 shares, Mayberry Investments shed $2.50 to settle at $10.50, in exchanging 15,799 units, Mayberry Jamaica Equities traded 266,879 units but fell 30 cents to close at $10, PanJam Investment gained $1 and closed at $63, with an exchange of 4,774 stock units, Pulse Investments shed $1 trading just 100 shares at $3, Seprod lost $1 and finished trading of 34,130 shares at $38.00, Sagicor Group jumped $1 to $40, trading 33,174 shares and Supreme Ventures lost $1, ending at $16, trading 62,025 units.
Trading in the US dollar market ended with 37,210 units valued at $48,801 traded, with JMMB Group 5.75% percent preference share completed trading of 9,880 to end at $2 and JMMB Group 6% percent preference share completed trading of 27,330 and lost 2 cents to end at $1.05. The JSE USD Equities Index closed unchanged at 165.33.
Junior Market seems poised to rally on Monday
Bulls prowling around Junior Market.
The Junior Market rose on Friday and seems poised to further the gains on Monday with the IC bid-offer Indicator flashing strong positive signals at the close of trading.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading turned positive at the close of Friday with 7 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, while none closed with a lower offer.
At the close on Friday just 20 securities changed hands versus 22 on Thursday, with 10 stocks rising, 4 declining and 6 remaining unchanged leading the Junior Market Index to gain 14.49 points to close at 3,215.12
The day’s activity ended with an exchange of 1,378,210 units valued at $4,765,299 compared to 2,355,219 units valued at $9,942,794 on Thursday.
Trading ended with an average of 68,911 units for an average of $238,265 in contrast to 107,055 units for an average of $451,945 on Thursday. 
The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 123,432 units valued at $565,096 and previously 131,510 units valued at $613,516. October, ended with an average of 69,421 units valued at $347,455 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial closed 73 cents higher at $50, with an exchange of 500 shares, Caribbean Cream gained 30 cents to close at $5.30, trading 7,000 shares, Caribbean Producers traded 25,912 stock units, at $6, Consolidated Bakeries finished trading at $2, with an exchange of 17,000 units, Derrimon Trading closed 3 cents higher at $2.78, with 22,000 shares being traded, Elite Diagnostic concluded trading of 53,251 shares, rising 20 cents in closing at $3.40, Express Catering settled 15 cents higher at $8, swapping 23,000 units, FosRich Group ended trading 112,015 shares at $3.20, GWest Corporation finished trading at $1.90, 
with an exchange of 12,160 shares, Honey Bun closed at $4, trading 12,000 stock units. Indies Pharma ended trading 651,500 shares and rose 10 cents to close at $3.10, Iron Rock ended with a loss of 1 cent at $4.99, trading 10,008 units, Jetcon Corporation closed 5 cents higher at $3.75, with 6,486 shares changing hands, Key Insurance ended trading 2,950 stock units and rose 17 cents to $3.25, KLE Group traded 40 cents higher at $3.90, with 4,321 units. Lasco Distributors gained 6 cents to $4.05 and closed with the trading of 257,905 shares, Lasco Financial ended with a loss of 5 cents at $5.25, while 1,500 shares were exchanged, Lasco Manufacturing concluded trading with a loss of 2 cents at $3.18, with 148,536 stock units, Medical Disposables settled with a loss of 70 cents at $8.30, exchanging 2,000 shares and Stationery and Office traded 8,166 shares at $9.20.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Massy & Witco in sharp gains on TTSE
West Indian Tobacco climbs $3.90 on Friday.
Trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Friday saw Massy Holding recovering $3 of recent losses and West Indian Tobacco climbing $3.90 as investors respond to improved results and a pending stock split.
Market activities ended with 12 securities trading versus 11 on Thursday, with 5 advancing, 3 declining and 4 remaining unchanged. The market closed with two stocks trading at 52 weeks’ low as 451,756 units valued at $6,455,226 traded, compared to 769,673 units valued at $3,207,315 changing hands on Thursday.
The Composite Index climbed 14.86 points to 1,244.65. The All T&T Index rose 11.99 points to 1,700.52, while the Cross Listed Index gained 2.44 points to close at 106.21.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading closed with 5 stocks ending with higher bids than the last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
Stocks to Watch include, a number of companies that are exhibiting bullish tendencies and may be moving higher in the days ahead, the group includes, NCB Financial, Republic Holdings, and West Indian Tobacco.
Stocks closing with gains| First Citizens closed with an increase of 1 cent to $32.66, after exchanging 3,162 shares, Guardian Holdings finished 26 cents higher and completed trading of 105,016 units at $16.91, Massy 
Holdings closed at $3 higher to $47, after exchanging 10,000 shares, NCB Financial Group rose 35 cents and settled at $6.50, after exchanging 50,140 shares and West Indian Tobacco concluded trading with a gain of $3.90 to close at $94, with 200 units.
Stocks closing with losses| Clico Investments closed with a loss of 15 cents to end at $20, with 93,016 stock units changing hands, National Enterprises shed 7 cents and ended at a 52 weeks’ low of $8.44, in trading 175,000 stock units and Sagicor Financial lost 3 cents and ended at at a 52 weeks’ low of $7.42, with an exchange of 1,630 stock units.
Stocks trading with no price change| Calypso Macro Index Fund traded 643 shares to close at $15.81, Scotiabank completed trading at $64.50, with 360 units, Trinidad & Tobago NGL settled at $29.50, after exchanging 12,399 shares and Unilever Caribbean ended at $24, with 190 stock units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
