The Jamaica Stock Exchange Junior Market closed on Friday at a record high, with the market index surging 101.72 points to close at the highest point for the day at record 4,205.78, bettering the previous record of reach on March 4 this year as the market put on 22.7 percent for the year.
A new record high for the JSE Junior Market.
At the opening of the market, there was little sign for a record-breaking day, with the market index up 43.76 points, within just a minute of opening and remained close to this level for the better part of the morning until Express Catering jumped to $6 and Lasco Manufacturing moved up to $5 minutes to midday.
Market activity led to 44 securities trading, up from 40 on Thursday and ended with 21 rising, 15 declining and eight closing unchanged.
The PE Ratio, a measure used to compute appropriate stock values, averages 22.6. The PE ratio of each stock in the chart below is based on ICInsider.com earnings forecast for companies with financial years up to August 2022.
The volume of stocks trading on Friday declined 55 percent to 23,122,693 units, from 51,849,620 on Thursday and the value fell 50 percent from $167,982,544 on Thursday to $83,802,194. At the close, Mailpac Group led trading with 10.18 million shares for 44 percent of total volume, followed by JFP Limited with 2.38 million units for 10.3 percent of the day’s trade, EduFocal chipped in with 1.94 million units for 8.4 percent market share, Lasco Manufacturing accounted for 1.21 million units for 5.2 percent market share and Future Energy Source closed with 1.19 million units for 5.2 percent market share.
Trading averaged 525,516 shares at $1,904,595 in contrast to 1,296,241 shares at $4,199,564 on Thursday, with the month to date, averaging 633,084 units at $2,346,443 compared to 639,741 units at $2,373,786 on the previous trading day. February closed with an average of 370,064 units at $1,402,517.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows one stock ended with the bid higher than the last selling price and five with lower offers.
At the close, AMG Packaging lost 20 cents to end at $2.80, with 205,111 shares crossing the market, Blue Power gained 15 cents in ending at $4.15 in an exchange of 18,599 stocks, CAC 2000 rose 15 cents to close at $7.70 after trading 129 stock units. Cargo Handlers advanced 40 cents to $11.80 while exchanging 23,977 units, Caribbean Cream declined 11 cents in closing at $5.12 with an exchange of 454 stock units, Dolphin Cove shed 30 cents in ending at $26.70 in exchanging 115,798 units, EduFocal climbed 16 cents to close at $3.53 in trading 1,942,307 shares, Everything Fresh dropped 18 cents to end at $1.03 with the swapping of 240,557 stocks, Express Catering rallied 76 cents in closing at $6 in exchanging 534,386 units. Fontana popped 24 cents to $10.25, with 87,571 shares changing hands, Future Energy Source increased 20 cents to $6.50, with 1,194,713 stock units crossing the exchange, Honey Bun fell 29 cents to close at $9.70 after exchanging 51,075 stocks. Jamaican Teas fell 16 cents to $3.55 after 756,039 shares changed hands, KLE Group climbed 20 cents to $2.80, with 21,047 units crossing the market, Knutsford Express rallied 55 cents to end at $8, with 8,478 stock units clearing the market. 
Lasco Distributors shed 29 cents in closing at $3.50 in switching ownership of 144,879 stocks, Lasco Manufacturing increased 40 cents to close at $5, trading 1,213,910 units, Mailpac Group advanced 38 cents to end at $3.55 while exchanging 10,175,577 shares. Main Event rose 95 cents to $8.95 in an exchange of 81,747 stocks, Paramount Trading lost 30 cents to $1.45, with 82,760 stock units crossing the exchange, SSL Venture popped 45 cents to end at $1.95 after exchanging 306,349 stocks. Stationery and Office Supplies dropped 50 cents in ending at $7.03 with the swapping of 36,129 shares, Tropical Battery gained 12 cents to $2.47, with 716,915 stock units crossing the market and tTech declined 24 cents to close at $4.05 with an exchange of 5,704 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
