National Commercial buys US$20M & sells back US$9M

Jamaica’s, National Commercial Bank bought US$20,408,481 at an average rate of $112.70 and sold only US$8,911,292 at $112.75 on Friday, two days after selling 466 million Kingston Wharves’ shares, for the equivalent of US$26.6 million. The buy helped push the forex market into surplus on the day, by US$18 million.
Of the nine authorized dealers, Jamaica National was the only one, buying less US dollars than they sold. First Global Bank with a net purchase of US$1.9 million, is the closest to NCB, with a surplus of US dollars bought. On Thursday Bank of Nova Scotia purchased US$3,907,332 at an average of $112.36 but offloaded US$19,209,570 at an average rate of $112.72.
The Jamaican dollar was stable against the US dollar, gained value on the Canadian dollar and fell in value against the Pound Sterling, in Friday’s forex trading. Authorized dealers purchased the equivalent of US$50,731,870 versus US$28,497,521 on Thursday, and the equivalent of US$32,356,343 was sold compared with US$39,295,678 on Thursday.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$48,910,642 compared to US$25,078,217 on Thursday. The buying rate for the US dollar rose 18 cents to $112.50 and US$30,734,179 was sold versus US$37,666,628 on Thursday, the selling rate eased by a cent to $112.69. The Canadian dollar buying rate, fell 34 cents to $99.06 with dealers buying C$699,897 and selling C$374,177 at an average selling rate that slipped 24 cents, to $101.40. The rate for buying the British Pound slipped $1.76 to $180.15, for the purchase of only £685,615, while £380,923 was sold, at $183.75 for a rise of 33 cents. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$107,024, while selling was for the equivalent of US$664,374.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, the lowest buying and the highest selling rates remained unchanged at $113, $91.85 and $117.70 respectively. The lowest selling rate dropped $8.45 to $101.55. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar rose 7 cents to $101.60, the lowest buying rate fell 33 cents to $79.93. The highest selling rate climbed $1.50 to $105.50. The lowest selling rate fell 40 cents to $96.30. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, declined 30 cents to $184, the lowest buying rate fell 33 cents to $147.16. The highest selling rate rose $1.86 to $192 and the lowest selling rate is dived 40 cents to $177.30.