Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Monday ended with sharply reduced volumes compared the levels traded on Friday and in recent weeks and months, with 37 securities changed hands, accounting for only 1,377,118 units valued at a mere $23,284,334, in all market segments. The junior market accounted for 534,047 shares valued at $3,394,975 as 15 stocks in the overall market gained, 12 declined including 8 of the stocks rising and 3 declining, from the junior market.
At the close of trading there were 2 new 52 weeks’ closing highs in the junior market.
The JSE Market Index rose sharply by 3,461.33 points to end at 153,500.51. The all Jamaica Composite Index surged 3,871.05 points to
close at 170,501.41 and the JSE combined index jumped 4,179.76 points, to close at 164,537.72.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 14 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 with lower offers.
At the end of market activities, Berger Paints traded 3,200 shares at $4, Cable & Wireless lost 2 cents and closed at $1.35 in trading 160,020 units, Caribbean Cement traded 7,498 shares but the price fell by 6 cents to close at $26.50, Carreras fell 50 cents while trading 6,000 shares, to close at $62.50. Rebranded Gleaner Company, 1834 Investments, gained 16 cent to close at $1.15 in trading only 833 shares, Jamaica Broilers had 14,350 units changing hands, to close at $14.15. JMMB Group fell by 50 cents in trading 6,250 shares to close at $9.50, Kingston Wharves traded just 1,000 shares to close with a gain of 85 cents at $11.15,
Mayberry Investments traded 32,088 shares but gained 10 cents to close at $3.40. National Commercial Bank declined by 50 cents while 20,586 shares traded, to close at $40.50, Pan Jamaican closed at $88 with 2,616 shares changing hands. Radio Jamaica traded 34,500 shares and climbed 5 cents to close at $1.20, Sagicor Group fell 10 cents to end with 5,705 shares changing hands at $22.40, Scotia Group closed with a rise of 50 cents, to end at $30.50 while 491,344 units changed hands. Scotia Investments closed with 8,374 shares trading with a gain of 50 cents to $26, Seprod ended with 19,777 units trading with a loss of $1.30 at $15.60 and Supreme Ventures fell 6 cents and closed at $5 with 9,000 shares changing hands.
JSE ends April positively – Friday

Mayberry Investments traded 17.65m shares on the JSE on Friday.
The JSE Market Index that plummeted sharply by 2,934.82 points on Thursday, recovered just 527.92 points on Friday to end at 150,039.18. The all Jamaica Composite Index gained 590.41 points on Friday but in contrast to the drop of 3,282.21 points on Thursday as it closed at 166,630.36 and the JSE combined index that dived 2,789.11 points on Thursday enjoyed a slight increase by 94.38 points, to close at 160,357.96. The decline in the movement in the main market on Friday, breaks the four consecutive trading days that the indices gained prior to today out turn.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 21 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 with lower offers.
At the end of market activities, Berger Paints gained 10 in trading 2,472 shares at $4, Cable & Wireless lost 2 cents and closed at $1.37 in trading 349,000 units, Caribbean Cement traded 83,248 shares but the price fell $1.44 to close at $26.56, Carreras rose 50 cents while trading 16,265 shares, to close at $63. Rebranded Gleaner Company, 1834 Investments, gained 1 cent to close at 99 cents in trading 101,900 shares, Jamaica Broilers had 25,000 units changing hands, to close with a loss of 35 cents at $14.15. Jamaica Stock Exchange traded 5,000 units and declined by $1, to close at $21, Kingston Wharves traded 21,644 shares to close at $11.15, with a loss of 5 cents, Mayberry Investments traded 17,650,039 shares but fell 2 cents to close at $3.30.
National Commercial Bank gained $1.20 while 180,965 shares traded, to close at $41, after the company released improved results for the March quarter, Pan Jamaican lost $1 to close at $88 with 4,860 shares changing hands. Radio Jamaica traded 94,200 shares and climbed 7 cents to close at $1.15. Sagicor Group gained 45 cents to end with 12,844 shares changing hands at $22.50, Scotia Group closed with a loss of $1, to end at $30 while 10,421 units changed hands, Supreme Ventures gained 1 cent and closed at $5.06 with 160,489 shares changing hands. Proven Investments closed with 8,677 ordinary shares trading at 20 US cents and JMMB Group 6% preference share ended with 62,630 units trading with a loss of 5 cents at $1.10.
JSE stocks make more gains – Tuesday

Grace Kennedy traded 1,412,488 shares on Tuesday.
Trading amounted to 8,175,132 units valued at $170,455,575 changing hands, in all markets, the junior market accounting for 3,312,315 units valued at $12,515,372.
The JSE Market Index gained 227.72 points to end at 151,270.83, the all Jamaica Composite Index rose 736.09 points to 168,007.80 and the JSE combined index climbed 658.18 points, to close at 161,527.95.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 13 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.At the end of market activities, Berger Paints traded 14,027 units to close at $4 after rising by 10 cents, Cable & Wireless rose 2 cents to close at $1.35, in trading 500,946 units, Caribbean Cement traded 241,594 shares and fell $2 to close at $24, Carreras fell 1 cent while trading 270,430 shares, to close at $64.99. Grace Kennedy traded 1,412,488 shares with a rise of 50 cents, to end at $82,
Jamaica Broilers had 46,616 units changing hands, to close with a loss of 20 cents at $14.25. National Commercial Bank rose $1 in trading 101,619 shares to close at $40, Radio Jamaica traded 74,000 shares and gained 2 cents to close at $1.20, Sagicor Group fell 35 cents to end with 193,396 shares changing hands at $22.15, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 16,110 shares to close at $10.25, for a rise of 25 cents. Scotia Group closed with a gain of 5 cents at $30.55 with 211,936 units changing hands, Supreme Ventures closed at $5.50 with 63,960 shares changing hands, Proven Investments ordinary share traded 4,133 units to close at 18 US cents and JMMB Group 7.5% preference shares traded 1,672,980 units at $1.04, with a fall of 2 cents.
JSE inches up in early trading – Tuesday
Trading is off to a fairly slow start on the Jamaica Stock Exchange in the early morning session but with a few reasonable sized trades. Leading off is Lasco Manufacturing with 1,079,447 units followed by Cable & Wireless with 355,488 shares and
Caribbean Cream with 97,300 shares while Caribbean Cement chipped in with 63,122 units, Jamaican Teas 74,583 units and JMMB 7.25% traded 200,000 shares.
Trading saw all major indices rising moderately, with the main market indices gaining just under 200 points and the junior market index climbing over 10 points after 90 minutes of trading, on Tuesday. The average volume traded amounts to 107,260 units per active stock, compared to an average of 71,293 units traded in the mid-morning session on Monday.
A total of only 20 securities accounting for 2,145,196 shares changed hands as 5 stocks gained and 4 declined.
The market saw the all Jamaica Composite Index rising 195.09 points to 167,466.80, the JSE Market Index gained 174.44 points to 150,787.09, the JSE combined index ended with a rise of 279.60 points to 161,579.83 and the junior market index rose 11.48 points to 2,116.34.
236% jump in Carib Cement profit

Caribbean Cement shares traded at $25 after Q 1 results.
Full year 2015 results were a profit after tax of $1.5 million or $1.82 per shares but after accounting for exceptional income and expenses resulting in lower profit than from ongoing operations. Included in the one off cost was redundancy payment of $436 million which h will result in lower payroll cost that should be equivalent to the separation cost in the first year.
Revenues climbed to $3.977 billion from $3.58 billion in the first quarter as domestic sales grew while export declined. Interest cost declined from $65 million in the March 2014 quarter to just $5.6 million in the current quarter. Cost elsewhere fell by $270 million in the quarter to help boost the profit.
Carib Cement paid taxes of $244 million in the quarter according to data in the cash flow but the provision against the quarter’s profit is $118 million. Cement ended up with cash balance at $963 million but invested $203 million of the cash inflows while working capital used up $525 million.
The profit for the quarter brought accumulated losses to $4.9 billion which should be wiped out in 2017 if the current trend of profitability continues.
The stock traded as high as $25 on Friday after results were released.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 19 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 with lower offers. The higher bids jumped sharply, but that is most likely associated with month end widow dressing.
Pulse Investments traded 185,515 shares with a fall of 30 cents to close at $2.50, Radio Jamaica traded 94,200 shares and climbed 7 cents to close at $1.15, Sagicor Group fell 15 cents to end with 605,440 shares changing hands at $22.05, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 25,645 shares to close at $10.15 after falling 10 cents, Scotia Group closed with a loss of $2.99 to end at $31 while 20,164 units changed hands, Scotia Investments traded 115,465 shares to close at $25.50 and Supreme Ventures closed at $5.39 with 240,047 shares changing hands for a loss of 34 cents, Proven Investments closed with 24,500 ordinary shares trading and gained 2 US cents to 20 US cents and JMMB Group 7.50% preference shares ended with 1500,00 units trading at $1.04.

IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 11 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 with lower offers.
Jamaica Stock Exchange traded 30,330 units at $21, 
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 17 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 with lower offers.
Kingston Wharves traded 5,000 shares to close at $11.50 after rising 20 cents, National Commercial Bank traded 80,951 shares to close at $39, after slipping by $1, Palace amusement traded 402 units as the price jumped to a 52 weeks’ high of $95 by rising $9.99. Radio Jamaica traded 563,999 shares but fell 2 cents to close at $1.18, Sagicor Group rose 20 cents in ending with 3,635 shares changing hands at $22.50, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 46,437 shares to close at $10, Scotia Group closed with a gain of 50 cents at $30.50 with 6,019 units changing hands. Proven Investments ordinary share traded 316,675 units and fell 1 US cents to close at 18 US cents and JMMB Group 7.5% preference shares traded 1,943,418 units at $1.06, with a rise of 1 cent.

IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 17 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 with lower offers.
National Commercial Bank traded 24,476 shares to close at $40, Pulse Investments traded 12,996 units as the price slipped by 50 cents to $2.50. Radio Jamaica traded 1,895,681 shares to gain 7 cents to close at $1.20, Sagicor Group fell 15 cents in ending with 76,203 shares changing hands to close at $22.30 Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 23,300 shares to close at $10 after losing 20 cents, Scotia Group closed unchanged at $30 with 125,253 units changing hands. Scotia Investments ended at $27.50 with 49,431 shares trading, Supreme Ventures gained 50 cents with 1,007,250 shares trading to end at $5.50. Proven Investments ordinary share traded 43,000 units to gain 2 US cents to close at 19 us cents and JMMB Group 7.5% preference shares traded 91,582 units at $1.05.

the junior market accounting for 8,096,759 units valued at $8,096,759.