Juniors rose modestly in August
The participation rate on the final day of the month was good with 18 securities being active and resulted in the market closing trading with 1,201,093 units valued at $5,410,798. A total of 9 stocks rose and 4 declined. One stock traded to close at a new high and one traded at an intraday high. Trading ended with 10 securities closing with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 ending with lower offers.
At the close, Access Financial ended trading with 2,337 units at $17.50, Blue Power closed with a rise of 30 cents with 433 units changing hands at a new high of $19.80, CAC 2000 traded 4,500 units to close unchanged at $6.40, Caribbean Cream closed with 7,578 shares changing hands at $7.05 after rising by 5 cents. Caribbean Producers had 55,189 units changing hands to close at $3.50, Consolidated Bakeries lost 6 cents in trading 7,502 shares to close at $2.34, General Accident traded 6,783 units at $2.30 after rising by a cent, Honey Bun had 69,795 shares changing hands to close at $5.80, after gaining 50 cents. Iron Rock Insurance traded 467,982 units but lost 12 cents in closing at $3.18, Jamaican Teas lost 40 cents while trading 33,000 shares to close at $3.20, Jetcon Corporation ended with a gain of 5 cents at a new high of $3.21, with just 2,000 shares changing hands, KLE Group traded 4,750 shares at $1.40. Knutsford Express traded 10,300 shares to close at $25 after hitting an intraday 52 weeks’ high of $26. Lasco Distributors rose 29 cents and ended with 210,694 shares changing hands at $6.99, Lasco Financial ended with 16,393 shares changing hands to close at $3.35, after dropping 15 cents, Lasco Manufacturing closed at $4.57 with 183,348 shares trading, after rising 2 cents, Medical Disposables traded 75,000 shares with the price rising 41 cents to close at $3.50 and tTech rose 70 cents with 43,509 shares trading to end at $4.50.
Eppley jumps by $85 on Friday
The stocks trading at new highs are, Cargo Handlers climbing 98 cents to $76.01 with 3,470 shares changing hands, Eppley closing at $735 with 9,000 units traded and Knutsford Express Services jumping $1.75 to close at $25 as just 190 units of the company’s shares traded.
The standoff between buyers and sellers as the market continues to consolidate with volumes being offered slowly falling remains in place at the market’s close leaving a number of stocks short on supply to meet any meaningful demand. Trading ended with 5 securities closing with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 ending with lower offers.
At the close, CAC 2000 gained 40 cents in trading 81,096 shares, to end at $6.40, Caribbean Cream closed with 55,718 shares changing hands at $7, Caribbean Flavours traded 2,791 units to end at $7, Caribbean Producers rose 15 cents in trading 91,336 units at $3.55, Dolphin Cove ended at $15.61 with 2,000 shares trading, to gain 11 cents. Honey Bun rose 45 cents with 9,140 shares changing hands, to close at $5.55, Iron Rock with 3,697 units changing hands, ended at $3.30, KLE Group ended at $1.40 with 86,818 shares changing hands after falling by 3 cents. Lasco Distributors ended with 15,875 shares changing hands at $7, Lasco Manufacturing closed at $4.55 with 111,727 shares trading, after falling 35 cents. Medical Disposables ended with a rise of 3 cents as 28,207 shares changed hands at $3.09, Sweet River Abattoir with 6,000 units trading rose 1 cent to end at $3.85 and Derrimon Trading preference share gained 12 cents ended with 2,050 units changing hands to close at $2.20.
Juniors down again on Wednesday
Trading ended with 4 stocks that rose while 7 declined as 7 closed with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 ended with lower offers.
At the close, CAC 2000 traded 10,614 shares, to end at $6, Caribbean Cream closed with 126,756 units changing hands and fell 5 cents, to $7, Cargo Handlers traded 7,518 shares but lost just 1 cent in closing at $75.03, after trading earlier at an intraday high of $76.10. Caribbean Flavours traded 2,791 units to end at $7. Caribbean Producers rose 9 cents in trading 4,885 units at $3.40, Consolidated Bakeries rose 5 cents with 1,353 units changing hands, to end at $2.40, Derrimon Trading traded 7,050 units to close at $3.05. Honey Bun had 44,404 shares changing hands, to close at $5.08, Iron Rock Insurance traded 24,393 units to close at $3.30, Jamaican Teas traded 13,508 units to close at $3.40, Jetcon Corporation fell by 15 cents with 15,098 units to end at $2.85. KLE Group gained 3 cents and ended at $1.43 with 284 shares changing hands, Lasco Distributors fell 5 cents and ended with 18,002 shares changing hands at $7, Lasco Financial lost 10 cents in trading 758,513 units to close at $3.25. Lasco Manufacturing closed at $4.50 with 550,005 shares trading, after falling 35 cents, Medical Disposables ended with a loss of 10 cents as 65,000 shares changed hands at $3.15 and tTech climbed 59 cents and ended at $5 with 235,988 units changing hands.
Juniors claw higher on Monday
Trading ended with 7 stocks that rose while 7 declined, while the market index gained 7.24 points, to close at 2,257.52. At the end of trading 5 stocks closed with bids higher than their last selling prices and 1 ended with a lower offer.
At the close, Access Financial Services traded 7,357 shares to end at $16, AMG Packaging lost 12 cents and closed at $13 with 16,104 units changing hands, CAC 2000 closed with 1,797 units changing hands but fell 1 cent to $6, Cargo Handlers had 4,000 shares changing hands, to close at $75.04 with the loss of a cent. Caribbean Flavours traded 589,637 units to end at $6.85 with a loss of 15 cents, Caribbean Producers gained 1 cent in trading 6,162 units at $3.26, Consolidated Bakeries fell 10 cents in trading 18,620 units to end at $2.35, General Accident gained 8 cents, in trading 2,046 units to close at $2.29. Honey Bun had 98,613 shares changing hands, to close with a gain of 5 cents at $5.55, Iron Rock Insurance traded 1,303 units and gained 2 cents to close at $3.30. Jetcon Corporation traded 127,964 shares and fell 20 cents to close at a new high of $3, Key Insurance with 1,653 shares changing hands rose 15 cents to end at $2.65, Lasco Distributors ended with 1,782,910 shares changing hands but gained 5 cents to land at $7.05. Lasco Financial traded just 400 units to close at $3.40 and Lasco Manufacturing closed at $4.89 with 6,366 shares trading, after falling 7 cents.
JSE trades over $1.36B in early session – Friday
Trading on the Jamaica stock exchange surged on Friday to more than $1.36 billion with stockbrokers, Victoria Mutual Wealth Management (VMW), crossing a series of stocks that dominated trading. By 10:45 am the market indices slipped slightly for the main market and rose moderately for juniors as 13 stocks gaining versus 8 that fell.
The main traded done by VMW are 10,156,665 National Commercial Bank shares at $41.22 in two lots on behalf of clients shortly after trading opened on the Jamaica Stock Market on Friday morning. Other stocks crossed by VMW are CAC 2000 with 813,386 units at $6.01, JMMB Group with 9,170,806 units at $9.88, Portland JSX 10,000,000 units at $11.49 and Sagicor Group with 6,513,985 units at $21.97 and Sweet River Abattoir with 4,664,000 units at $3.84. Sterling Investments 2,668,905 units at $13.01, Others stocks crossed by VMW include Jamaica Public Service 9.5% preference share with 99,931 units at $1,247, Lasco Distributors 8,055,942 at $7.02, Lasco Manufacturing 7,592,810 shares at $4.94, Scotia Group with 8,528,008 units at $31.70 and Scotia Investments with 1,025,875 shares at $26.
At 10:45 am 30 securities traded, resulting in a volume of 71,959,810 shares changing hands. The large trades done VMW accounted for more than $850 million in the value of trading in the early morning session. The average number of shares traded amounts to 2,248,744 units compared to 37,167 units on Thursday.
The all Jamaica Composite Index fell 122.62 points to 180,511.47 the Jamaica Stock Exchange Market Index slipped 109.65 points to 162,451.12, the Jamaica Stock Exchange combined index lost 62.71 points to close at 173,704.85 and the junior market index rose 3.80 points to 2,243.59.
Juniors end with 3 new highs – Thursday
A total of 2 stocks closed with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 ended with a lower offer.
At the close, Access Financial traded just 163 shares at $17.50, Blue Power Group ended with 5,000 shares changing hands with a gain of 40 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $16.50, CAC 2000 had 2,589 units changing hands to close with a loss of 10 cents at $6.40. Caribbean Cream closed 10 cents lower with 38,177 shares changing hands at $6.90, Caribbean Producers traded 16,000 units with at $3.25, Consolidated Bakeries gained 5 cents in trading 4,104 shares to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $2.25. C2W Music closed with a gain of 1 cent as 33,000 units changed hands to close at 30 cents, the stock traded at an intraday low of 25 cents. Dolphin Cove rose by 35 cents while 2,000 units were traded, to close at $14, Honey Bun had 47,118 shares changing hands, to close with a gain of 10 cents, at $5.55. Iron rock Insurance gained 42 cents while trading 1,000 shares to close at $3.60, ISP Finance jumped 65 cents to a new high of $5.15 with only 1,000 shares changing hands. Key Insurance traded 2,000 units at $2.60, KLE Group ended at $1.35 with 100,000 shares changing hands, after rising by 5 cents, Knutsford Express closed with 30,000 units changing hands at $19.52, after rising by 52 cents. Lasco Distributors ended with 37,152 shares changing hands at $7, Lasco Financial ended with 32,985 shares changing hands at $3.35, for a rise of 5 cents, Lasco Manufacturing lost 5 cents and closed at $5 with 88,000 shares trading. Medical Disposables traded with a loss of 35 cents to close at $3.15 with 20,000 shares changing hands and Derrimon Trading preference share, traded 449,000 units at $2.07.
Juniors suffers slight fall on Thursday
Junior market trading closed slightly down on Thursday with more stocks falling than the number rising, with 17 securities being active and the index closing 2.80 points lower at 2,190.19 as 5 stocks gained and 7 declined. The market ended with 1,137,261 units traded, valued at $6,066,776.
A total of 5 stocks closed with bids higher than their last selling prices and 1 ended with a lower offer.
At the close, AMG Packaging traded 16,612 shares to close at $12.50, Blue Power with a fall of $1.18 with just 100 shares changing hands, at $15, CAC 2000 traded 70,925 shares at $6.50, Caribbean Cream fell 3 cents in closing at $6.95, with 21,326 shares traded, Caribbean Producers traded 25,000 shares and gained 26 cents to end at $3.46. Consolidated Bakeries traded 52,000 shares to end at $2.10, General Accident lost 12 cents to close at $2.03 with 42,000 shares changing hands, Iron Rock Insurance gained 2 cents in trading 25,000 shares and closed at $3.20, Jamaican Teas lost 30 cents in trading at $3.20 with 1,519 shares changing hands. Jetcon Corporation fell 15 cents to close at $2.55 with 50,000 shares changing hands, Key Insurance gained 5 cents in trading 3,163 shares at $2.60, Knutsford Express had 22,732 units changing hands, to close at $15, Lasco Distributors ended with 192,726 shares changing hands, but rose 19 cents to $7.49, Lasco Financial ended with 48,628 shares changing hands at $3.40. Lasco Manufacturing closed at $4.90 with 554,582 shares trading a decline of 10 cents. Medical Disposables traded 1,885 shares and gained 1 cent to close at $3.50 and tTech ended with 9,063 shares changing hands to end at $3.80.
Juniors closed mixed – Tuesday
At the end of trading, 7 stocks closed with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 ended with lower offers.
At the close, AMG Packaging rose 10 cents to end at $12.51 with 100 units changing hands, CAC 2000 ended with 1,940 shares but lost 10 cents to close at $6.40, Caribbean Cream gained 40 cents with 153,892 shares up from 153,892 units on Monday changing hands to close at $5.50. The company reported a rise of 9 percent in sales to $316 million for the May quarter and a jump of 81 percent in profit to $71 million or earnings per share of 19 cents. Consolidated Bakeries fell 10 cents in trading 71,559 shares to close at $2, Derrimon Trading closed at $3 with 133,163 shares changing hands, General Accident lost 10 cents in trading 38,006 units at $2.05, Honey Bun traded 89,130 shares and lost 5 cents to close at $5.55. Iron Rock Insurance gained 15 cents in trading 49,100 shares and closed at $3.35. KLE fell 5 cents with 9,451 units changing hands at $1.15, Knutsford Express traded 3,336 units changing hands at $14.70, Lasco Distributors traded 2,586 units and rose 5 cents to end at $6.05. Lasco Financial ended with 30,000 shares changing hands, at $3.38, after gaining 23 cents, Lasco Manufacturing closed at $5.01 with 39,074 shares trading and rose 1 cent in the process and Medical Disposables traded 12,232 shares to close with a loss of 40 cents at $3.05.
The volumes for the highest closing bids and lowest offers were not available for publication.
LascoD & Carib Producers hit juniors – Wednesday
The junior market closed trading sharply down on Wednesday with the market index falling 56.88 points, to close at 2,133.57. A 90 cents falls in the price of the Caribbean Producers inflicted much damage to the market index which fell by 2.6 percent, Lasco Distributors also chipped in with a 40 cents fall. Both stocks were the subject of new information that is negative for their stock prices.
A total of 11 active securities with only 777,300 shares valued at $4,030,252, changing hands. At the close, 4 stocks advanced and 5 declined
At the end of trading 7 stocks closed with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 ended with lower offers.
At the end of trading, AMG Packaging fell 71 cents in trading 5,854 shares at $12.41, CAC 2000 lost 6 cents with 22,385 shares changing hands, to end at $6.56, Caribbean Cream traded 5,260 shares and gained 5 cents to end at $5.10. Investors continued to react negatively to the release by Caribbean Producers on Monday, about a write down of inventory and other charges, by marking the stock down again by 90 cents, in trading 264,600 shares to close at $3. At the close the only meaningful bid visible is at $1.50 to buy 999,000 units, offers include 30,000 at $3.80 and at $4 a total of 135,000 units. Consolidated Bakeries gained 15 cents in trading 2,800 shares to close at $2.15, the stock was offered at $2.10 at the close. C2W Music traded 5,589 shares to end at 28 cents, Honey Bun rose 1 cent to close at $5.51, with 21,460 units changing hands, Iron Rock Insurance traded 5,000 shares and fell 5 cents to close at $3.25. Lasco Distributors dropped 40 cents while trading 342,459 units to end at $7, as investors responded negatively to news that Pfizer is countering Lasco’s huge claim of more than US$300 million, with their estimate of less than US$1 million. Pfizer had previously challenged Lasco over their right to sell tablets for hypertension and lost, resulting in the need to quantify damages by the courts. Lasco Financial ended with 64,000 shares changing hands at $3.42, after gaining 22 cents and Lasco Manufacturing closed at $5 with 37,893 shares trading.