Having clawed back more than 65 percent of the 880 points loss in last month, up to the March 18th, but the Junior Market was unable to muster the strength to put in more than a modest 3.06 points rise with the index closing at 2,607.42 on Wednesday.
The Junior Market clawed back more than 65% of the 880 points lost during March.
Trading closed on Wednesday with 37 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 4,472,513 units valued at $17,780,064 compared to 3,831,781 units valued at $12,509,279 from 34 securities on Tuesday. At the close of market activities, the prices of 15 securities advanced, 13 declined and nine remained unchanged. The average PE ratio of the Junior Market ended at 9.7 based on 2020/21 earnings.
Trading ended with an average of 120,879 units at $480,542 for each security traded in contrast to 112,699 units for an average of $367,920 on Tuesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 323,527 units valued at $720,825 and previously 379,483 units valued at $787,171. In contrast, March closed with an average of 226,230 units, valued at $542,563 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows three stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and five with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Blue Power exchanged 25,109 shares after rising 15 cents to end at $4.33, Caribbean Assurance Brokers traded 20,300 shares and rose 28 cents to close at $2.19, Caribbean Cream dipped 24 cents in swapping 9,542 units at $2.50. Caribbean Producers closed trading of 510,860 units and gained 20 cents to end at $2.90, Consolidated Bakeries added 7 cents to end at $1.79 with 102,400 shares changing hands, Dolphin Cove closed trading of 8,821 units and gained 3 cents to settle at $7.80, Elite Diagnostic shed 2 cents in trading of 42,386 units at $4.97. Everything Fresh ended at 95 cents after shedding1 cent and exchanging 10,191 shares, Express Catering jumped 50 cents and traded 25,350 shares at $3.70, Fontana closed 35 cents higher at $6.35 with 1,555,291 units changing hands. Fosrich gained14 cents and exchanged 1,250 shares at $3.49, General Accident declined by 46 cents to settle at $5.20 with 12,000 units traded, GWest Corporation ended with a loss of 1 cent at 89cents with 1,800 stock units changing hands. iCreate dipped 2 cents in trading 24,065 units at 56 cents, Indies Pharma closed trading of 61,924 units and gained 8 cents to end at $2.88, Iron Rock Insurance fell 1 cent to $2.99 with 9,500 stock units crossing the exchange. Jamaican Teas closed trading of 371,802 units and added 1 cent to finish at $4, KLE Group climbed 25 cents after exchanging 3,000 shares at $1.70, Knutsford Express dipped 15 cents to $9 with 3,332 units traded. 
Lasco Financial ended with a loss of 1 cent at $3.24 with 45,675 stock units changing hands, Lasco Manufacturing closed 3 cents higher at $4.23, with 228,919 shares trading, Limners and Bards shed 5 cents in trading of 16,950 units at $2.11. Lumber Depot fell 3 cents in trading of 235,061 units at $1.20, Medical Disposables climbed 12 cents and exchanged 5,849 shares at $7.50, Paramount Trading exchanged 28,788 units and gained 19 cents to end at $2.24. SSL Venture slipped 7 cents to 98 cents in the trading 1,450 shares, Stationery and Office Supplies lost 15 cents swapping 16,100 units to settle at $7 and tTech closed 75 cents higher at $4.25, with 500 stock units crossing the exchange.
In the Junior Market preference segment, Derrimon Trading declined by 25 cents in the trading of 192 units at $1.40.
Prices of securities trading are those for the day’s last transaction unless otherwise stated
At the close of the market, Caribbean Assurance Brokers exchanged 26,087 shares and climbed 23 cents to close at $2.17, Caribbean Cream finished 1 cent higher at $2.82 with 5,350 units changing hands, Caribbean Producers swapped 696,817 shares, after slipping 10 cents to end at $2.40. Consolidated Bakeries shed 20 cents exchanging 12,701 stock units at $1.45, Dolphin Cove added 1 cent to close at $7.80 with 1,000 shares crossing the exchange, Elite Diagnostic traded 98,336 shares, after rising 41 cents to end at $4.51. Everything Fresh closed 5 cents higher at 95 cents, with 353,495 stock units changing hands, Express Catering gained 13 cents in trading of 256,472 units at $3.13, Fontana closed trading of 571,861 units and jumped 40 cents to end at $6.30. FosRich picked up 5 cents in exchanging 13,178 shares at $3.40, GWest finished 10 cents higher at 90 cents with an exchange of 10,000 units, Honey Bun gained 50 cents after trading 513,160 shares to settle at $6.50. iCreate finished 8 cents higher at 58 cents with the transfer of 737,372 stock units, Indies Pharma closed trading of 129,871 units and lost 1 cent to end at $2.89, ISP Finance fell 10 cents to $15.90 with the trading of a mere 6 units. Jetcon Corporation exchanged 19,078 shares and added 3 cents to close at $1.02, Key Insurance closed 50 cents higher at $3.50, with 170,430 stock units trading, Lasco Distributors climbed 4 cents to settle at $2.99 in trading 182,893.
Lasco Financial closed trading of 71,211 units and slipped 1 cent to end at $3.23, Lasco Manufacturing dropped 14 cents to $3.51, with 80,623 stock units trading, Limners and Bards closed at $2.10, having lost 10 cents with 6,000 units changing hands. Lumber Depot gained 8 cents to end at $1.13, with 1,697,016 shares changing hands, MailPac gained 10 cents in exchanging a volume leading 2,056,859 shares to close at $1.70, Medical Disposables slipped 28 cents to settle at $7.96 with 34,418 shares changing hands. Paramount Trading exchanged 12,688 shares to close at $2.20 after rising 5 cents, Stationery and Office Supplies fell 99 cents to $6.01 with 50,500 shares traded and tTech closed 75 cents lower at $3.50, with 42,063 stock units crossing the exchange.
Thursday gains reduced the market losses for the year, from a high of 39.3 percent in March to 26.5 percent presently. At the close of market activities, prices of 16 securities advanced, eight declined and ten remained unchanged with 34 securities changing hands. Trading resulted in an exchange of 13,283,703 units for $24,888,541 compared to 7,297,716 units at $17,298,654 on Wednesday. The average PE ratio of the Junior Market ended at 9.1 based on 2020/21 earnings.
Caribbean Assurance Brokers rose 1 cent in trading 196,792 shares to close at $2.01, Caribbean Flavours shed 50 cents trading of 139 units at $10, Consolidated Bakeries ended with an exchange of 10,000 shares, after rising 6 cents to end at $1.38. Derrimon Trading closed 7 cents higher at $1.90, exchanging 10,100 stock units, Elite Diagnostic climbed 57 cents and closed at $3.87, with 27,924 stock units changing hands, Everything Fresh ended trading with 6,009 shares, after rising 19 cents to end at 84 cents. Fontana gained 20 cents to end at $5.50 with 163,657 shares crossing the exchange, Fosrich traded of 6,000 shares, after rising 32 cents to end at $2.90, General Accident ended with a loss of 1 cent at $5.71 with 2,100 stock units changing hands. Indies Pharma ended market activity after 22,547 shares changed hands to close at $2.40 after falling 5 cents. Iron Rock Insurance closed 50 cents higher at $3, trading 18,308 stock units, Jetcon Corporation fell 11 cents in trading of 187,000 units at 99 cents, Knutsford Express closed with 5,874 shares crossing the market after rising 55 cents to end at $9.20. Lasco Distributors close with a loss of 2 cents at $2.98, swapping of 26,344 shares, Lasco Financial closed with 5,700 units crossing the market to gain 22 cents and end at $3.22, Lasco Manufacturing ended 10 cents higher at $3.60, in trading 80,700 stock units. 
Limners and Bards climbed 28 cents and exchanged 61,233 shares at $2.18, Lumber Depot added 1 cent and swapped 3,106,285 shares at $1.20, MailPac rose 14 cents in trading 8,397,683 shares to close at $1.90. Main Event closed 90 cents higher at $5, with 9,729 stock units trading, Medical Disposables ended with a loss of 5 cents at $6.50, after swapping 157,053 shares. Paramount Trading closed 8 cents higher at $1.98, with 85,812 stock units trading, SSL Venture fell 19 cents in trading of 1,000 units to close at a 52 weeks’ low of 85 cents and Stationery and Office Supplies closed with a loss of 11 cents at $6.89 after 7,200 shares changed hands.
Trading ended with an average of 208,506 units for an average of $494,247 in contrast to 431,990 units for an average of $1,058,626 on Tuesday. In contrast, March closed with an average of 226,230 units valued at $542,563 for each security traded.
Derrimon Trading shed 2 cents with ownership of 118,857 units being switched and closed at $1.83, Everything Fresh shed 12 cents in trading of 65,000 units at 65 cents. Fontana closed 31 cents higher at $5.30, with 874,689 stock units crossing the exchange, Fosrich declined 31 cents in trading of 50,250 units at $2.58, Honey Bun close market activity with a loss of 50 cents in ending at $6, after 68,861 shares changed hands. iCreate closed 2 cents higher at 53 cents, with 8,542 stock units trading. Iron Rock Insurance fell 50 cents in trading of 5,100 units at $2.50, ISP Finance climbed $2.50 to settle at $16 with 104 shares changing hands, Lasco Distributors closed trading of 47,412 units and gained 2 cents to end at $3. Lasco Financial closed trading of 81,600 units and gained 5 cents to end at $3, Lasco Manufacturing closed trading of 80,689 units and gained 32 cents to end at $3.50, Limners and Bards fell 38 cents in trading of 177,041 units at $1.90, Lumber Depot ended trading with 811,825 shares, after rising 1 cent to end at $1.19.
MailPac ended with 3,203,608 stock units changing hands, after rising 7 cents to end at $1.76, Main Event lost 42 cents in exchanging 10,093 shares to close at $4.10, Medical Disposables closed trading of 3,325 units and gained 4 cents to end at $6.55. Paramount Trading fell 4 cents to close at $1.90, after swapping 19,724 shares, SSL Venture closed 4 cents higher at $1.04, with 11,490 stock units crossing the exchange and Stationery and Office Supplies gained $1.30 to end at $7, trading 11,190 shares.
The Junior Market Index advanced by 50.32 points to close at 2,144.08 after an exchange of 3,982,260 units accounting for $9,382,200 compared to 4,329,260 units valued at $9,680,619 on Thursday.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging declined 14 cents in trading of 23,450 units at $1.51, CAC 2000 ended market activity exchanging 3,000 shares to close at $10 after falling $1.40, Caribbean Cream ended trading with 15,433 shares, after rising 65 cents to end at $2.76. Caribbean Flavours ended with a loss of $1 at a 52 weeks’ low of $9 with 1,106 stock units changing hands, Caribbean Producers declined 25 cents in trading 98,606 units at $2.25, Elite Diagnostic climbed 15 cents and exchanged 57,904 shares at $2.75. Everything Fresh closed with a loss of 3 cents at 57 cents in swapping 10,000 shares, Express Catering ended trading with 69,873 shares, after rising 10 cents to end at $3. Fontana closed 20 cents higher at $4.45, with 189,405 stock units changing hands. Fosrich closed 25 cents higher at $2.50, in trading 1,000 stock units, General Accident declined by 5 cents to settle at $4.50 trading 44,789 shares, GWest Corporation closed 13 cents higher at 85 cents, with 9,824 stock units changing hands. Honey Bun ended trading 32,000 shares, after rising 20 cents to close at $5.90, iCreate ended with 19,557 shares crossing the exchange, after rising 5 cents to end at 50 cents. Indies Pharma climbed 47 cents and exchanged 370,612 shares at $1.97, Iron Rock Insurance climbed 45 cents to $3.45, in swapping 1,000 units, ISP Finance lost $1 to close at $13 with 5,000 stock units changing hands. 
Jamaican Teas gained 6 cents and exchanged 16,160 shares at $3.99, Knutsford Express gained $1 to end at $7, with 1,740 stock units trading. KLE Group closed trading of 1,000 units and gained 4 cents to end at $1.25, Lasco Distributors added 10 cents in exchanging 537 shares at $3, Lasco Manufacturing lost 90 cents in trading of 1,457,018 units at $2.75. Lumber Depot rose 1 cent, transferring 787,765 shares at $1.21, MailPac closed trading of 451,161 units and gained 9 cents to end at $1.50, Main Event jumped 65 cents and closed at $4.50 after transferring 27,477 units. Medical Disposables climbed 80 cents and exchanged 14,650 shares at $6.50, Stationery and Office Supplies traded 2,112 shares, after rising 20 cents to end at $6 and tTech closed 75 cents higher at $4.25, with 50,000 stock units changing hands.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows five stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
Key Insurance ended with a loss of 1 cent at 2 with 80,000 stock units changing hands, KLE Group closed with 47,367 shares, changing hands after rising 1 cent to end at $1.21, Knutsford Express ended with a loss of $1 to finish at $6 with 3,211 stock units changing hands. Lasco Distributors shed 10 cents in trading of 30,601 units at $2.90, Lasco Financial climbed 5 cents and exchanged 344,486 shares at $2.55, Lasco Manufacturing rose 15 cents and transferred 40,200 shares at $3.65. Limners and Bards lost 5 cents in trading 209,671 shares to close at $1.80, Lumber Depot closed 5 cents higher at $1.20, with 1,302,525 stock units trading, MailPac ended with 402,140 shares crossing the exchange, after rising 4 cents to end at $1.41. Main Event declined by 65 cents in trading of 69,210 units at $3.85, Medical Disposables ended market activity exchanging 72,841 shares to close at $5.70 after falling 40cents, Paramount Trading closed 8 cents higher at $1.98, with 4,000 stock units trading. Stationery and Office Supplies picked up 30 cents and exchanged 6,782 shares at $5.80 and tTech ended market activity trading 5,000 shares to close at $3.50 after falling 20 cents.
Trading ended with 32 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 2,522,568 units valued at $6,848,779 compared to 3,161,624 units valued at $9,205,109 from 33 companies’ securities on Tuesday.
Caribbean Assurance picked up 2 cents and traded 168,230 shares to close at $1.98, Caribbean Producers fell 67 cents in trading of 544,576 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.33, Consolidated Bakeries closed 18 cents higher at $1.48 with 118,186 stock units crossing the exchange. Dolphin Cove declined by 10 cents to settle at $6.40 with a transfer of 5,133 shares, Elite Diagnostic swapped 35,610 shares after rising 19 cents to end at $2.90, Everything Fresh closed at a 52 weeks’ low of 60 cents after slipping 2 cents and exchanging 52,075 shares. General Accident lost 10 cents in trading 5,780 shares to close at $4, Honey Bun gained 30 cents to close at $6 with 26,694 stock units changing hands, Indies Pharma lost 30 cents in trading 300 shares to close at 52 weeks’ low of $1.25. Jamaican Teas climbed 26 cents and exchanged 66,135 shares at $3.96, Jetcon Corporation closed 3 cents higher at $1.03 with 20,965 stock units trading, 
Lasco Distributors ended trading of 111,827 units and gained 8 cents to settle at $3. Lasco Financial dropped 35 cents in the exchange of 25,455 units at $2.50, Limners and Bards lost 3 cents in trading 5,000 shares to close at $1.85, Lumber Depot ended trading with 338,706 shares, after rising 11 cents to $1.15. MailPac lost 2 cents in swapping of 76,242 units at $1.37, Main Event climbed 69 cents and exchanged 11,000 shares to close at $4.50, Medical Disposables closed at $6.10 after adding 40 cents in exchanging 3,113 shares. Stationery and Office Supplies ended with a loss of $1 at a 52 weeks’ low of $5.50 with 40,000 stock units changing hand and tTech climbed 20 cents to $3.70 with 2,478 shares crossing the exchange.
Trading on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended on Tuesday with the market Index diving 52.80 points to close at 2,100.86, down 37 percent for the year as 33 securities changed hands, with prices of nine securities rising, 15 falling and nine remaining unchanged.
Caribbean Cream exchanged 20,000 stock units and gained 1 cent to end at $2.11, Caribbean Flavours fell 50 cents in trading of 600 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $10. Caribbean Producers declined 10 cents to settle at $3, with 10,000 shares changing hands, Dolphin Cove traded 14,156 shares and fell 50 cents to close $6.50, Elite Diagnostic dropped 39 cents in trading of 95,816 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.71. Fosrich ended market activity in exchanging 63,565 shares to close at $2.50 after falling 45 cents, Fontana shed 20 cents in trading of 385,577 units at $4, General Accident dropped 90 cents to settle at $4.10 after exchanging 181,000 stock units and trading at an intraday 52 weeks’ low of $3.89. Indies Pharma closed 5 cents higher at $1.55, with 28,655 stock units trading, Jamaican Teas lost 30 cents in trading 105,774 shares to close at $3.70, Jetcon Corporation dipped 10 cents with 205,925 units changing hands at $1, Knutsford Express declined 25 cents in trading of 79 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $7. KLE Group shed 40 cents in trading of 957 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.20, Lasco Distributors closed 32 cents higher at $2.92, with 25,111 stock units changing hands, 
Lasco Financial closed 29 cents higher at $2.85, with 24,070 stock units trading. Lasco Manufacturing exchanged 39,019 units and gained 64 cents to end at $3.50, Limners and Bards rose 18 cents to end at $1.88 and closed with 137,535 units crossing the exchange, Lumber Depot closed with a loss of 21 cents at 52 weeks’ low of $1.04, swapping of 356,449 shares. MailPac closed trading of 92,679 units and gained 8 cents to end at $1.39. Medical Disposables declined by 50 cents to settle at $5.70, after exchanging 60,381 stock units, Paramount Trading lost 10 cents in trading 34,500 shares to close at 1.90 cents, Stationery and Office Supplies traded 12,974 shares and gained 50 cents to end at $6.50 and tTech declined 20 cents in trading of 1,000,620 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $3.50.
Market activities resulted in an exchange of 3,024,296 units valued at just $6,277,143 compared to 3,640,594 units valued at $10,061,535 on Friday. The average market PE ratio ended at ten times, 2019 earnings.
Cargo Handlers fell 40 cents trading 842 stock units to close at $5.10, Caribbean Assurance declined 1 cent to end at $1.94 with 188,778 units traded, Caribbean Cream closed with a loss of 65 cents at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.10 in the swapping of 100,000 shares. Caribbean Producers dropped 15 cents to settle at $3.10 as 11,008 units changed hands, Consolidated Bakeries ended 4 cents higher at $1.30 with 54,386 stock units crossing the exchange, Elite Diagnostic dropped 40 cents in trading of 93,115 units at $3.10. Express Catering finished with a loss of 60 cents at $3.20 with an exchange of 66,107 shares, Fontana ended trading with 230,426 units, after rising 20 cents to end at $4.20, Fosrich closed trading of 115,510 units and gained 55 cents to end at $2.95. General Accident closed 13 cents higher at $5, with 3,101 stock units trading, GWest Corporation declined 9 cents in trading of 106,669 units at 70 cents, iCreate closed with a loss of 2 cents at 45 cents after swapping 435,204 shares. Indies Pharma lost 45 cents in trading 117,958 shares to settle at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.50, Jamaican Teas closed with a loss of 15 cents at $4 swapping 37,073 shares, Jetcon Corporation ended market activity exchanging 10,100 shares to close at $1.10 after slipping 2 cents. Knutsford Express fell 25 cents to $7.25 with 1,300 shares traded, Lasco Distributors concluded trading of 9,994 units and gained 20 cents to finish at $2.60, Lasco Financial closed 6 cents higher at $2.56 with 78,306 units traded. 
Lasco Manufacturing rose 4 cents after exchanging 136,184 shares at $2.86, Limners and Bards ended trading with 42,154 shares, after rising 10 cents to close at $1.70, Lumber Depot exchanging 429,151 shares and lost 3 cents to close at $1.25. MailPac fell 9 cents to $1.31 with 478,451 units traded, Main Event declined by 39 cents to settle at $3.81 with 8,332 shares changing hands, Medical Disposables closed trading of 1,889 units and gained 50 cents to end at $6.20. Paramount Trading gained 30 cents and exchanged 4,956 units to end at $2, SSL Venture closed at $1 after falling 10 cents and swapping 10,543 shares and tTech declined by 55 cents to $3.70 with 1,660 stock units crossing the exchange.
Trading ended with 33 securities changing hands, with 11 stocks advancing, 15 declining and the prices of seven companies holding firm, resulting in an exchange of 3,640,594 units valued at $10,061,535 compared to 3,923,029 units valued at $10,812,457 on Thursday. The average PE ratio 
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging shed 19 cents in swapping 4,283 units at $1.71, Blue Power picked up 70 cents to end at $3.70 with a mere 226 shares changing hands, CAC 2000 fell 30 cents to $12.50 in trading 12,200 shares. Caribbean Assurance Brokers lost 6 cents in transferring 51,369 shares and closed at $1.95, Caribbean Cream finished at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.75, after falling 6 cents in exchanging 63,966 stock units, Caribbean Producers climbed 75 cents to $3.25 after trading 35,200 units. Derrimon Trading lost 1 cent in swapping 231,500 shares to close at $1.47, Dolphin Cove lost 50 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ low of $6.50, with 14,156 stock units changing hands, Everything Fresh traded 105,000 shares at a 52 weeks’ low of 62 cents after losing 3 cents. Express Catering gained 40 cents in transferring 58,890 shares at $3.80, General Accident traded 5,550 shares at $4.87, with a loss of 22 cents, GWest Corporation shed 6 cents exchanging of 103,759 units at 79 cents. Honey Bun ended 75 cents higher at $5.70 with 13,258 stock units changing hands, Indies Pharma gained 2 cents in trading 16,063 units at $1.95, Iron Rock rose to $2.30, with gains of 30 cents after swapping 100 units. 
Jamaican Teas shed 83 cents with 7,110 shares crossing the exchange at $4.15, Knutsford Express closed 50 cents lower in the swapping of 2,011 shares to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $7.50 and Lasco Distributors added 20 cents trading 28,700 stock units to finish at $2.40. Lasco Financial gained 10 cents in transferring 213,281 units at $2.50, Lasco Manufacturing ended at $2.82 after a loss of 18 cents with 120,693 stock units changed hands, Limners and Bards shed 25 cents in trading of 74,316 shares to end at $1.60. Lumber Depot closed at $1.28 with gains of 7 cents in swapping 192,203 shares, Main Event exchanged 51,669 shares to close at $4.20 after gaining 40 cents, Medical Disposables lost 30 cents in transferring 24,798 units at $5.70. Paramount Trading closed 11 cents lower at $1.70 as 238,829 shares and SSL Venture gained 10 cents with just 500 shares trading at $1.10.