The Jamaica Stock Exchange main market lost ground on Tuesday but with the advancing stocks just edged out declining stocks by one.
Market activity closed with 30 active securities in the main and US dollar markets, compared to 29 on Monday with the prices of 10 stocks rose, 9 declined and 11 remained unchanged.
The All Jamaica Composite Index lost 1,977.46 points to close at 390,937.64 and the JSE Index declined by 1,801.69 points to close at 356,188.44.
Main market trading closed with Scotia Group leading with 498,076 units, or 22 percent of the day’s volume, Wisynco Group with 438,385 units and 19 percent of volume traded and Mayberry Jamaican Equities with 420,374 units accounting for 18.5 percent of main market volume.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows just 3 stocks ending with the bid higher than the last selling prices and 5 closing with lower offers.
Trading closed with 2,275,042 units valued at $61,431,938 changing hands compared with 2,530,491 units valued at $58,080,585 being exchanged, on Friday.
Trading resulted in an average of 81,252 units valued at over $2,193,998, in contrast to 93,722 shares valued at $2,151,133 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date, amounts to 270,542 valued at $2,810,418, compared to 292,443 valued at $2,890,696. October closed, with an average of 290,851 shares, valued $5,213,901, for each security traded.
In the main market activity, Barita Investments gained 50 cent to close at $20.50, trading 550 shares, Caribbean Cement jumped $5 to close at $49 in trading of 18,535 shares, Jamaica Producers gained $1 to end at $24, trading 15,800 shares,
JMMB Group fell 90 cents and ended at $33, with an exchange of 110,598 shares, Kingston Wharves dropped $2 to $76 trading 4,800 shares, Mayberry Investments shed 43 cents to settle at $9.57, in exchanging 32,704 units, NCB Financial Group lost $1 and ended trading 127,194 shares at $132, after trading at a 52 weeks’ high of $135.01. PanJam Investment gained $1.70 in closing at $65.70, with an exchange of just 500 stock units, Sagicor Group rose 50 cents to $39, trading 13,945 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund gained 50 cents and settled at $12.50, trading 297 shares and Seprod fell $1 and finished trading 4,833 shares at $35.
Trading in the US dollar market ended with 12,200 units valued at over US$20,506 traded, Proven investments completed trading of 429,681 shares and fell 3.5 cents to end at 19.5 U$ cents and Sygnus Credit Investments traded 2,500 units after falling 1 cent to 10 US cents. The JSE USD Equities Index declined by 14.71 points to close at 160.92.
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.
NCB push JSE sharply higher on Thursday
NCB had a good 2018 fiscal year with strong profit gains.
NCB Financial Group climbed $6 and ended trading the highest volume for the day of 302,785 shares to end at a record close at $133 and helping the All Jamaica Composite Index to jump over 6,000 points and helping to reverse some of the 13,784 points lost over the previous three days.
At the close of market activity closed with 26 active securities in the main and US dollar markets, on Thursday compared to 29 on Wednesday with the prices of 11 stocks rising while just 5 fell and 10 remained unchanged.
The All Jamaica Composite Index surged 6,136.87 points to close at 390,019.94 and the JSE Index jumped 5,591.38 points to close at 355,352.32.
Trading with just 881,032 units valued at $48,543,633 changing hands compared to 3,082,297 units valued at $88,764,558 being exchanged, on Wednesday.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows just 1 stock ending with bids higher than the last selling prices and 7 closing with lower offers.
Trading resulted in an average of 35,241 units valued $1,941,745, in contrast to 114,159 units valued at $3,287,576 on Wednesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 335,784 valued at $2,283,981 compared to 455,927 valued at $2,943,139. October closed, with an average of 290,851 shares, valued $5,213,901, for each security traded.
In the main market activity, Barita Investments gained $1 to close at $20, with 11,900 shares traded, Caribbean Cement shed $2 to close at $43 in closing trading of 7,609 shares, Grace Kennedy dropped $1.90 in trading 8,053 shares to close at $53.10, Jamaica Broilers lost $1 to end at $9, trading 21,844 shares, Kingston Wharves rose 95 cents and finished at 
$75.95, exchanging 1,932 stock units Mayberry Investments climbed $3 to settle at record high of $13, in exchanging 2,773 units, NCB Financial Group traded at a new high of $135 before the close and before the group issued full year results with record profit. PanJam Investment gained 44 cents and closed at $62, with an exchange of 10,800 stock units, Pulse Investments climbed $1 trading just 2,303 shares at a 52 weeks’ high of $4, Sagicor Group jumped $2 to $39, trading 15,747 shares and Sagicor Real Estate Fund rose 80 cents and settled at $12.50, trading 43,668 shares.
Trading in the US dollar market ended with 12,729 units valued at $2,597 with Proven Investments was the sole stock trading as it rose 3 cents to close at 23 US cents. The JSE USD Equities Index declined by 3.25 points to close at 165.33.
Another big fall for JSE on Wednesday
The volume of stocks trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange picked up moderately on Wednesday, but that was inadequate to stem another sharp fall in the main market indices as several sharp price movement impacted the market.
At the close of market activity, the prices of 8 securities rose, 13 declined, while 8 remained unchanged, with the All Jamaica Composite Index dropping another 5,289.54 points to close at 383,883.07 after falling 3,094.77 points on Tuesday and falling more than 5,400 points on Monday and the JSE Index dived 4,819.37 points to close at 349,760.94.
Trading closed with 29 active securities in the main and US dollar markets, on Wednesday compared to 30 on Tuesday with 3,082,297 units valued at $88,764,558 changing hands compared with 2,572,843 units valued at $35,216,901 being exchanged, on Tuesday.
Main market trading closed with Scotia Group leading with 1,085,516 units, or 35.2 percent of the day’s volume, Ciboney with 518,577 units for 16.8 percent of main market volume and Supreme Ventures with 486,361 units and 15.8 percent of volume traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows just 2 stocks ending with bids higher than the last selling prices and 7 closing with lower offers.
Trading resulted in an average of 114,159 units valued at over $3,287,576, in contrast to 95,290 shares valued at $1,304,330 on Tuesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 455,927 valued at $2,943,139, compared to 539.060 valued at $2,116,944. October closed, with an average of 290,851 shares, valued $5,213,901, for each security traded.
In the main market activity, Barita Investments lost 50 cents and closed at $20, with 11,900 shares being traded, Caribbean Cement climbed $1 to close at $45 trading of 16,795 shares, Grace Kennedy dropped $2 and ended trading 2,739 shares to close at $55, JMMB Group lost $1 to end at $33, trading 25,600 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange lost 45 cents in trading 37,505 shares to close at $10, Kingston Wharves lost 95 cents in closing at $75 after trading 7,000 
shares, Mayberry Jamaica Equities traded 47,475 units, fell 20 cents to close at $10.30, PanJam Investments fell 44 cents and ended trading 29,500 shares to close at $61.56, Sagicor Group lost $2 and concluded trading41,540 shares at $37. Scotia Group lost $1.20 to end at $50, trading 1,085,516 units, Seprod gained $2.70 to close at $39 trading a mere 2,963 units, Supreme Ventures lost 50 cents and ended at $17, as 486,361 shares were traded and Sygnus Investments traded 21,338 shares after gaining $1 to end at $12.
Trading in the US dollar market ended with 29,530 units valued at $26,401. At the close of the market,JMMB Group 5.75% percent preference share completed trading of 11,120 to end at $2.05, Proven Investments traded 18,410 units at 20 US cents. The JSE USD Equities Index declined by 1.66 points to close at 162.08.
Big fall for JSE on Monday
The volume of stocks trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange declined to very low levels on Monday, leading to more stocks falling than rising and resulting in a big drop in the market indices.
At the close of market activity, the prices of 7 securities rose, 12 declined, while 14 remained unchanged, with the All Jamaica Composite Index dropping 5,472.20 points to 392,267.38 and the JSE Index diving 4,985.79 points to close at 357,399.99. On Friday, the stock exchange released incorrect closing indices which have not been corrected for Friday’s report so far.
Trading closed with 33 active securities in the main and US dollar markets, on Monday compared to 30 on Friday with 1,665,733 units valued at over $37,959,691 changing hands compared with 2,082,014 units valued at $42,778,375 being exchanged, on Friday.
Main market trading closed with JMMB Group 7.5% preference share leading with 370,000 units, or 22 percent of 
the day’s volume, Carreras with 327,902 units and 19.7 percent of volume traded and Sagicor group with 163,681 units with 10 percent of the day’s volume.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 6 stocks ending with bids higher than the last selling prices and 7 closing with lower offers.
Trading resulted in an average of 57,439 units valued at over $1,308,955, in contrast to 77,112 shares valued at $1,584,384 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 681,700 valued at $2,378,141, compared to 1,010,856 shares, valued $2,941,894. October closed, with an average of 290,851 shares, valued $5,213,901, for each security traded.
In the main market activity, Barita Investments lost 50 cents and closed trading of 4,433 shares at $19.50, Grace Kennedy lost 50 cents and ended trading 72,236 shares to close at $56.50, Jamaica Broilers traded 14,502 stock units, at $30, after rising 29 cents, Jamaica Producers dropped $3.45 and finished trading of 7,120 units at $24.55, Jamaica Stock Exchange rose 50 cents to close at $10.50, in exchanging 51,733 shares, JMMB Group gained 50 cents
to end at $33, trading 38,544 shares, Kingston Wharves lost 95 cents to close at $75 with 2,792 stock units trading, Mayberry Jamaica Equities traded 26,649 units and rose 75 cents to close at $11.25, NCB Financial Group lost $1.70 and ended trading 33,122 shares to close at $125.10. Portland JSX declined by 50 cents and ended at $8, with 450 units changing hands, Sagicor Group dropped $3.01 to settle at $41.99, with 163,681 shares, Scotia Group lost 50 cents to end at $51.99, trading 116,085 units and Stanley Motta traded 17,000 shares after falling 52 cents to end at $4.48.
Trading in the US dollar market ended with, Margaritaville rose by 1 cent and ended at 25 cents with 100 shares and Productivity Business completed trading 100 shares at 59 cents, Proven Investments traded 100 units at 20 US cents and Sygnus Credit Investments US dollar based ordinary share traded 719 units at 11 US cents. The JSE USD Equities Index rose 0.43 points at 163.82.
Just one change in IC Top 10
Changes in IC Insider.com Top 10 list were modest for the past week which followed a previous week of volatility.
tTech moved back in price to $6 from $5 and moved out of the Junior Market TOP stocks to be replaced by Caribbean Producers that fell to $6 from $6.80 at the end of the previous week. These were the only movement in and out of the TOP 10.
Investors should keep an eye open for former Top stock, NCB Financial that should be releasing full year results and announcing final dividend for 2018, on Thursday
The main market closed the week with the overall PE slipping to 15.6 from 15.4 from the previous week, the PE of the Junior market moved up to 15.4 from 15.4 at the close of the prior week.
The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks average 9.2 and the main market PE is now 9.9.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 41 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.
There will be no Market Watch report for this week.
JSE starts November with a big fall
Having risen strongly on the last trading day for October, the Jamaica Stock Exchange slipped back to normal on Thursday with stocks giving back most of the gains of the previous day, in keeping with patterns seen at month ends and openings, going back several years.
Trading closed with 29 active securities in the main and US dollar markets, on Thursday compared to 33 on Wednesday. Prices of 8 securities rose, 16 declined, while 5 remained unchanged. At the end of market activity, the All Jamaica Composite Index dropped 3,848.34 points to close at 396,907.46 and the JSE Index dived 3,506.27 points to end at 361,627.62.
Trading closed with 53,515,060 units valued $119,025,805 compared with 36 6,766,220 units valued at $113,213,380 changing hands, on Wednesday.
Main market trading closed with 1834 Investments leading with 50,001,500 units trading, or 93.4 percent of the day’s volume, Mayberry Jamaican Equities with 1,029,435 units and 1.9 percent of volume traded and Ciboney with 764,000 units with 1.4 percent of the day’s volume.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 4 stocks ending with bids higher than the last selling prices and 4 closing with lower offers.
Trading resulted in an average of 1,911,252 units valued at over $4,250,922, in contrast to 225,541 shares valued at $3,773,779 on Wednesday. October closed, with an average of 290,851 shares, valued $5,213,901, for each security traded.
In the main market activity, Barita Investments gained $1 to close at $20, with 6,375 shares changing hands, Caribbean Cement gave up $2.79 trading 7,157 shares to close at $41.21, Grace Kennedy lost $1 and ended trading with 45,770 shares at $55, Jamaica Broilers traded 28,064 stock units, at $30 after falling $1, Jamaica Producers dropped $2.99 and finished trading 26,432 units, at $24.51, Jamaica Stock Exchange jumped $1.50 to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $11.50, exchanging 73,099 shares, JMMB Group fell $1.78 and ended at $32.02, trading 127,582 shares,
Kingston Wharves gained 95 cents and finished at $75.95 with 24,474 stock units trading, NCB Financial Group added 80 cents and ended trading 160,771 shares to close at $126.80, PanJam Investment closed with a loss of $2.01 to end at $61.99, trading 14,135 stock units, Sagicor Group settled at $45 after falling $1.85, with 7,156 shares traded, Sagicor Real Estate Fund lost 57 cents to settle at $11.43, exchanging 239,704 shares, Salada Foods ended trading just 258 stock units and dropped $3.70 to end at $21.10, Scotia Group fell $1.97 to $51.03, trading 122,623 units and Supreme Ventures dropped $2.26 to close at $17.54 with 197,166 shares changing hands.
Trading in the US dollar market ended with Margaritaville being the only stock trading to end with a mere 100 units changing hands at 24 US cents. The JSE USD Equities Index remained unchanged at 163.30.
JSE makes big recovery on Tuesday
The Jamaica Stock Exchange closed a big gain on Tuesday as trading levels rose much higher than on Monday, from 34 active securities in the main and US dollar market compared to 31 on Monday.
The market ended with the prices of 17 securities rising, 7 declining while 10 remained unchanged leading to the All Jamaica Composite Index surging 8,178.20 points to close at 398,615.81 and the JSE Index jumping 7,451.27 points to close at 363,184.12.
Trading closed with 10,005,164 units valued at $94,380,140 trading, compared with just 3,098,511 units valued at $31,049,457 changing hands, on Monday.
Main market trading closed with JMMB Group 7.50% preference share leading with 7,780,000 units trading, or 78 percent of the day’s volume and NCB Financial with 517,883 units and 5 percent of volume traded and Carreras closed with 372,736 units with 3.7 percent of the day’s volume.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 3 stocks ending with bids higher than the last selling prices and 2 closing with lower offers.
Trading resulted in an average of 333,505 units valued at over $3,146,005, in contrast to 110,661 shares valued at $1,108,909 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 293,971 shares, valued 
$5,289,432 and previously, 291,988 shares, valued $5,142,412. September closed, with an average of 1,022,243 shares, valued $15,752,876, for each security traded.
In the main market activity, Barita Investments rose 90 cents and closed at $19 while trading 288 shares, Berger Paints climbed $1.40 to $22.90, in exchanging 24,500 stock units, Caribbean Cement rose $1.20 trading 14,777 shares to close at $45.20, Jamaica Broilers gained $1 trading 64,499 stock units to close at $31, Jamaica Producers jumped $1.651 and finished trading 28,494 units at $27.51, Jamaica Stock Exchange climbed $1.30 to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $9.80, trading 22,926 shares, Mayberry Investments gained 80 cents and settled at $10.80, trading 234,551 units, Mayberry Jamaican Equities lost 40 cents and settled at $11.40, in exchanging 13,025 units, NCB Financial Group added $5 and ended trading 517,883 shares to close at $125, PanJam Investment closed with a rise of $1.20 to end at $64.50, trading 55,001 stock units, Sagicor Group climbed $1.85 and settled at 
$46.85, exchanging 10,431 shares, Scotia Group rose $1.74 in trading 8,363 units to close at $53.74, Seprod jumped $2, in finishing trading at $39, with 3,348 shares, Stanley Motta rose 55 cents trading 25,000 shares to close at $5, Victoria Mutual Investments rose 33 cents and concluded trading of 78,638 stock units at $4.13 and Wisynco Group rose 26 cents and finished at $10.50, with 198,252 units changing hands.
Trading in the US dollar market ended with 48,323 units valued at $8,927 changing hands, with Margaritaville falling 1 cent and closing with 3,800 units trading at 24 US cents, Productive Business Solution gained 4 cents to close at 59 US cents trading just 100 units, Proven Investments fell 1 cent trading 34,223 shares to close at 20 US cents and Sygnus Credit Investments US dollar based ordinary share, traded 10,200 units to end at 10.9 US cents after slipping 0.1 cent The JSE USD Equities Index advanced by 1.36 points to close at 163.29.
JSE falls with modest trading on Monday
The Jamaica Stock Exchange closed on Monday with more decline following Friday’s big decline as trading volume decline to very low level.
The market ended with the prices of 11 securities rising, 11 declining while 9 remained unchanged leading to the All Jamaica Composite Index diving 3,396.00 points to 390,437.61 and the JSE Index dropping 3,094.14 points to close at 355,732.85.
Trading closed with 31 active securities in the main and US dollar market compared to 29 on Friday but with higher volume and value as 3,098,511 units valued at $31,049,457 traded, compared with 4,241,799 units valued at $75,795,522 changing hands, on Friday.
Main market trading closed with 1834 Investments with the leading volume of 1,200,000 units trading, or 39 percent of the day’s volume, Sagicor Real Estate Fund with 559,428 units and 18 percent of volume traded and Carreras closed with 344,581 units accounting for 11 percent of the day’s volume.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 7 stocks ending with bids higher than the last selling prices and 5 closing with lower offers.
Trading resulted in an average of 110,661 units valued at over $1,108,909, in contrast to 151,493 shares valued at $2,706,983 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 291,988 shares, valued $5,142,412 and previously 300,895 shares, valued $5,350,785. September closed, with an average of 1,022,243 shares valued $15,752,876, for each security traded.
In the main market activity, Berger Paints lost 51 cents and ended at $21.50, exchanging 12,999 stock units, Caribbean Cement dipped $3 to finish trading with 43,795 shares at $44, Grace Kennedy gained 99 cents, trading 34,473 shares to close at $55.99, Jamaica Stock Exchange lost 70 cents to close at $8.50, trading 160,996 shares, JMMB Group lost $1 and ended at $33, exchanging 42,590 shares, Kingston Wharves jumped $8 and finished at $78 trading 6,301 
stock units, Mayberry Investments lost 35 cents and settled at $10 in trading 22,721 units, Mayberry Jamaican Equities lost 40 cents and settled at $11.40, in exchanging 13,025 units, Salada Foods jumped $3.50 ended trading 11,274 stock units to close at $25, Scotia Group declined $2 in trading 5,599 units to close at $52, Seprod jumped $5, finishing trading at $37, with 2,100 shares and Supreme Ventures rose $1.50 to end at $18, in an exchange of 29,677 shares.
Trading in the US dollar market ended with 39,347 units changing hands with Proven Investments trading 37,436 to close at 21 US cents and Sygnus Credit Investments US dollar based ordinary share traded 1,911 units but lost 0.5 cent to end at 11 US cents. The JSE USD Equities Index lost 2.73 points to close at 161.93.