JSE majors drop nearly 8% from peak

The main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange declined for the fourth day on Friday, with The JSE All Jamaican Composite Index plummeting 5,571.87 points to close at 539,958.77, down 7.7 percent from the peak on August 8, this year.
The JSE Index dropped 5,024.72 points to close at 491,617.62 and the JSE Financial Index lost 1.30 points to close at 134.19 as 36 securities changed hands in the main and US dollar markets with 11 advancing, 12 declining and 13 traded firm. Main market activity ended with 33 securities trading 64,041,525 units valued at $1,348,335,010, in contrast to 20,774,565 units valued at $56,322,324 on Thursday with 32 securities trading.
Carreras dominated trading with 30.1 million shares for 47 percent of total volume, followed by Wisynco with 10.6 million units accounting for 17 percent of the day’s trade and Grace Kennedy with 7.7 million shares for 12 percent of the market’s trade. Also chipping in, with sizable volume are Sagicor Select Fund with 5.6 million shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange with 3,575,105 shares, Caribbean Cement with 2.4 million units and Wigton Windfarm with 2 million shares.
The market closed with an average of 1,940,652 units valued at an average of $40,858,637 for each security traded, in contrast to 649,205 units valued at an average of $1,760,073 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 946,164 units valued at $14,531,873 and previously an average of 894,072 units valued at $13,071,739 for each security traded. The market closed out September with an average of 1,585,081 units valued at $14,071,562 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 12 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers. The PE ratio of the market ended at 16.3 with the main market ending at 16.9 times 2019 current year’s earnings.
In main market activity, Barita Investments  closed $1.39 lower to $74.10 with 25,560 units traded, Carib Cement lost $1.51 to close at $71.99 with 2,438,311 shares changing hands, Grace Kennedy gained 90 cents, ending at $67 and trading 7,749,078 shares, Jamaica Broilers swapped 48,208 shares, in rising $2.90 higher to $36. Jamaica Producers lost $1 to settle at $22, with an exchange of 75,860 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange added 59 cents to close at $29 with 3,575,105 shares crossing the exchange. JMMB Group dropped $2.30 to end at $39.50, with 18,561 shares changing hands, Kingston Wharves closed $2 lower at $60, after trading 3,078 shares, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy advanced $10.01 trading 1,054 shares to end at a 52 weeks’ high of $200.01. NCB Financial dropped $5 lower to $200, in swapping 255,476 shares, Seprod gained 98 cents to settle at $52.50 with 10,510 units changing hands, Supreme Ventures lost 85 cents and ending at $25.15 with 31,644 shares crossing the exchange and Sygnus Credit Investments gained 45 cents, after trading 8,792 shares to close at $22.
Trading in the US dollar market ended with 589,163 units valued at over US$449,608 with the market index losing 0.77 points to close at 193.35. Equity Line Mortgage Investment preference share settled at US$2.01, after rising by 1 US cent in swapping 200,000 units, Proven Investments traded 5,030 units to close at 27 US cents and Sygnus Credit Investments exchanged 384,133 shares to end at 12 US cents,