FX: J$ appreciates

March 24, 2014 by

Monday, 24th March 2014 | The local currency appreciated against the major currencies except for the selling rate for the Canadian dollar. This took place as the amount for foreign currency bought exceeded the amount sold by the equivalent by $7.5 million.

There was buying of US$38,600,389 with the rate declining by 12 cents to end at $108.88 (Friday: US$39,864,913) and selling of US$29,900,773 (Friday: US$39,864,913) for 6 cents decline to $109.43.

The buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell by 23 cents to $95.34 as C$1,114,268 was bought and the selling rate rose 22 cents to $98.57 with C$2,479,837 sold.

The buying rate for the Pound dropped by $1.42 to $177.19 as £1,449,392 was bought by dealers and £727,330 was sold at $180.48 as the rate slipped 52 cents.

FX_TRADE+Currency+Mar24Other currencies bought equate to US$694,012 with the equivalent of US$1,254,297 being sold, a total of US$42,093,724 equivalent was bought and the equivalent of US$34,588,319 was sold.

Highs & Lows | The highest buying rate for the US dollar fetched 45 cents less than on Friday in reaching $109.90 while the lowest rate remained unchanged at $88.93; the highest selling rate remained at $113.95 and the lowest fell $17.99 to $88.51.

FX_TRADE+HighLow+Mar24The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell 16 cents to end at $98.10, the lowest buying rate was unchanged at $76.69; but the highest selling rate moved down by 50 cents to $100.50 and the lowest closed up 65 cents to reach $93.05.

The highest buying rate for the Pound fell by 75 cents to $181.35, the lowest buying rate rose 4 cents to end at $144.05; the highest selling rate closed down by $1.30 at $185.70 and the lowest closed up 5 cents at $173.55.

 Image courtesy of Arvind Balaraman/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Filed Under: FX Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , ,

JSE: 13 up only 4 down

March 24, 2014 by

Monday, 24th March 2014 | In today’s trading on the Jamaica Stock market, the prices of 13 stocks rose and 4 declined, which is exactly in line with the IC bid offer indicator from Friday. A total of 22 securities traded resulting in 3,296,305 shares trading valued at $96,939,740.

Main Market | The main market dominated trading with the vast amount of advancing stocks coming from this segment. The JSE Market Index climbed 269.80 points to close at 76,448.11 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite advanced by 301.55 points to 84,190.18.

Gains | Cable & Wireless with 653,000 shares as the price gained 6 cents to end at 44 cents; Caribbean Cement with 7,476 shares as the price inched up a cent to close at $4.16; Carreras 21,499 units closing 25 cents higher at $35.50;  Jamaica Broilers 50,000 shares to close at $5.10 and gained 10 cents; Jamaica Money Market Brokers ordinary 395,010 units to close at $7.50 for a 30 cents gain; Mayberry Investments 200 units at $2 for a 10 cents gain; Pan Jam Investment 719 shares to close 4 cents higher at $49.05; Sagicor Group with 192,847 shares to close at $9.99 as it gained 68 cents; Sagicor Investments 3,536 shares closing at $18.40, up $1.30; Scotia Group with 78,157 shares as it closed at $21.12 for a gain of 6 cents and Scotia Investments 3,443 units while closing at $25, up 92 cents.

JSEIndicesMar24Firm | There were only a few stocks in the main market to close without a price change with Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% reference shares trading 50,000 units and closed at $2; Proven Investments with 121,000 ordinary shares closing at 18 US cents; Proven Investments 8% preference share traded 10,150 units at $5.07 and Sagicor Real Estate Fund with 3,000 units at $6.50.

Declines | The two stocks declined in the main market with Grace Kennedy putting in a solid trading of 1,499,578 units accounting for $85.8 million as the price slipped by $1.12 to close at $58.78 and National Commercial Bank that saw just 10,711 units changing hands at $19 at the close for a 50 cents fall.

Junior Market | The JSE Junior Market Index advanced by 0.45 points to close at 731.01 with only 5 stocks trading of which 2 advanced and 2 declined.

Jr Market Gains | The two stocks that traded higher are Consolidated Bakeries with 42,202 units to close at $1.20 for a 10 cents gain and Lasco Manufacturing with 104,238 units to close at $1.26 having gained 6 cents.

Jr Market Firm Trades| The sole trade in the junior market to hold firm is Lasco Distributors with 2,780 shares to end at $1.41.

Jr Market Declines| Blue Power traded 17,894 units to close down 4 cents at $9.01 and Caribbean Producers that closed with 28,865 units at $2.71 with a 29 cents fall.

IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 8 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 4 stocks with offers lower.

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , ,

TTSE: Not much buying

March 24, 2014 by

Monday, 24th March 2014 | Today there was trading in 14 securities on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange of which 2 advanced, 7 declined and 5 traded firm.

The Composite Index declined by 1.06 points to close at 1,177.21, the All T&T Index fell by 1.09 points to 1,999.76 and the Cross Listed Index eased by 0.14 points to close at 46.52. Trading resulted in 235,786 shares changing hands valued at $12,213,108.

Gains | With prices under some pressure from the absence of much buying, Jamaica Money Market Brokers gained 3 cents to end the day at 50 cents with only 1,082 units trading and Republic Bank traded 9,370 shares at $102.03 by gaining a cent to reach a new 52 weeks high.

Firm Trades | Angostura Holdings had 3,000 units changing hands at $11.00; ANSA McAL 15 units at $66.49; National Enterprises 7 units at $18.25; Neal & Massy 201 units at $66.30 and West Indian Tobacco 60,652 shares for $7,156,936 to close at $118.

TTSEMar24Declines | Agostini’s traded 9,729 shares as the price closed at $17.75 for a 4 cents fall; Ansa Merchant Bank added 10,000 shares valued at $383,000, falling 19 cents to $38.30; Clico Investment Fund traded 16,612 shares valued at $360,169 and declined by 3 cents to end at $21.68; First Citizens Bank fell 30 cents as it traded 55,451 shares with a value of $2,017,677 and closed at $36.39; Guardian Holdings had 67,232 shares changing hands for a value of $941,248 and closed at $14 down 14 cents; National Commercial Bank traded 1,435 units to close at a cent off at $1.16 while Sagicor Financial Corporation traded 1,000 units as the price fell 24 cents to close at $7.05.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 5 stocks with offers that were lower.

Filed Under: Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: , ,

Moderate demand on TTSE but 5 stocks up

March 21, 2014 by

Activity on the Trinidad Stock Exchange resulted in the trading of 10 securities on Friday of which 5 advanced, 3 declined and 2 traded firm.
A moderate volume of securities traded amounting to only 220,535 shares valued at $957,901. The Composite Index eased back by 0.89 points to close at 1,178.27, the All T&T Index declined by 2.73 points to 2,000.85 and the Cross Listed Index edged up by 0.13 points to close at 46.66.
TTSE21-3-14Gains| In trading, First Citizens Bank moved 54 cents higher to close at $36.69 with 4,489 shares, First Caribbean International Bank traded 5,000 units at $5.76 for a one cent gain, Jamaica Money Market Brokers gained 2 cents to close at 47 cents, with 102,137 shares changing hands, for a value of $48,004. National Flour Mills traded 60,400 shares for $75,500 with the price closing 8 cents up, to end the day at $1.25, for a new 52 weeks’ high, Republic Bank had 1,335 shares changing hands to close 2 cents higher at $120.02, for a new 52 weeks’ high.
Firm trades| Clico Investment Fund traded 7,325 shares valued at $159,040, the price held at $21.71 and Scotiabank traded 2,622 units to close at $72.
Declines| Guardian Holdings lost a cent, to close at $14.14 in trading 2,000 shares, Trinidad Cement contributed 29,657 shares with a value of $65,245 while losing 10 cents, to close at $2.20 and Sagicor Financial Corporation added 5,570 shares valued at $40,605 and closed down a cent, at $7.29.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 2 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 5 stocks with offers that were lower.

Filed Under: Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

No winners to be found on TTSE

March 20, 2014 by

Market activity on Thursday resulted in the trading of 8 securities of with none advancing, 4 declining and 4 traded firm, only 41,934 shares traded valued at $2,251,206.
The Composite Index eased by 1.08 points to close at 1,179.16, the All T&T Index declined by 2.10 points to 2,003.58 and the Cross Listed Index edged down by 0.01 points to close at 46.53.
TTSE20-3-14Firm trades| First Caribbean International Bank traded 540 units at $5.75, National Commercial Bank contributed 2,400 shares and closed at $1.17, Republic Bank had 12,718 shares changing hands for a value of $1,526,160 to close at $120, West Indian Tobacco added 1,378 shares valued at $162,604 and closed at $118.
Declines| Clico Investment Fund traded 19,700 shares valued at $427,699, the price fell 18 cents to end at $21.72, First Citizens Bank traded 1,148 units, 83 cents lower at $36.15, Grace Kennedy with 3,000 shares traded for $10,920 closed at $3.64 being down a cent and Scotiabank traded 1,050 units in falling 47 cents to close at $72.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 3 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.

Filed Under: Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

FX: BOJ action pushes rate down

March 20, 2014 by

Thursday, 20 March 2014 | Bank of Jamaica pushed down foreign exchange rate for the Jamaican dollar when it intervened by making funds available to Authorized Dealers and Cambios at a rate of US$1 to J$109.346 for resale at US$1 to J$109.396. This comes against the rate continuing to race after the Central Bank issued a release on Sunday stating that they were willing to lend support to the market. In other words, a veiled attempt at saying the market was being manipulated.

On Sunday the BOJ stated “Against the background of recent movements in the exchange rate, Bank of Jamaica wishes to assure the public that it stands ready to provide support to prevent disorderly conditions from emerging in the foreign exchange market. Since the beginning of March 2014 the exchange rate has depreciated by J$0.93 (0.85%) against the US dollar. This movement over the two-week period compares to a J$0.49 (0.45%) depreciation over the previous two weeks. The faster pace of depreciation has occurred despite increased supply in the foreign exchange market, where volumes from earners for the month to date are higher than for January and February 2014.”

ThumbsupIstockFreePurchases & Sales | Authorized Dealers bought US$44,344,150 at $109.15 which gained a cent but dumped US$66,475,637 or US$22 million more than the amount bought at $109.42, 24 cents less than on Wednesday, as dealers who were hording the currency released a large portion of their holdings. In contrast US$41 million was bought on Wednesday and $39 million sold. Between Friday last and Wednesday, dealers bought US$17.5 million more than they sold resulting in a total of $22.7 million surplus of buying over selling of all currencies traded.

There was buying of C$478,746 at $95.34 that was off by $1.50 and selling of C$358,349 at $1.57 down to $97.53.  The buying of the pound amounted to £636,781 at $1.94 down to $177.75 and sold £317,117 at $181.16 at 76 cents less than on Wednesday.

Other currencies sold came to the equivalent of US$667,774 with US$635,271 sold.

The total amount of foreign exchange traded came to the equivalent US$46,467,181 being bought and US$67,955,336 sold.

Highs & Lows | The highest buying rate for the US dollar fell 70 cents to $110.30, the lowest was up 25 cents to $88.76 while the highest selling rate came out unchanged at $113.74 and the lowest was up $1.40 to $89.91.

The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar is down $1.25 to $98.50, the lowest moved down by 62 cents to $77.44.  The highest selling rate was lower by 52 cents at $100.63 and $2.40 came off the the lowest rate to end at $93.30.

The highest buying rate for the British Pound is 10 cents down at $183.10, the lowest buying rate gained 21 cents and ended at $144.84, while the highest selling rate climbed $1.59 to $186.71 and the lowest fell $1.90 to $175.10.

Related post | BOJ suggests FX stability close

Filed Under: Breaking News, FX Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , ,

TTSE: Market still remains sleepy

March 18, 2014 by

Tuesday, 18th March 2014 | Market activity on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange resulted in trading in 13 securities of which 3 advanced, 2 declined and 8 traded firm as 233,878 shares changed hands valued at $1,766,131.

The price movements had little impact on the indices as the Composite Index inched down 0.01 points to 1,182.16, the All T&T Index declined by 0.02 points to close at 2,009.50 and the Cross Listed Index remained at 46.54.

Gains | Clico Investment Fund traded 15,440 shares valued at $334,508, the price advanced by 2 cents to end at $21.67; First Citizens Bank contributed 13,135 shares with a value of $491,286 as the price climbed 35 cents to close at $37.35 and Unilever Caribbean had 3,026 units to close at $58.07, up 2 cents for a new 52 weeks’ high.

TTSEMar18Firm trades | Angostura Holdings added 5,038 shares valued at $55,418 to close at $11; First Caribbean International Bank traded a volume of 85,245 shares for $490,156 while closing at $5.75; Guardian Holdings had 4,364 units closing at $14.47; Guardian Media 2,140 units closing at $19.75; Jamaica Money Market Brokers had 100,000 shares changing hands for a value of $45,000 to close at 45 cents; National Enterprises traded 900 shares and closed at $18.25; Neal & Massy 320 units closing $66.30 and Prestige Holdings with only 10 shares closed at $9.30.

Declines | ANSA McAL with 260 shares closed at $66.49, down a cent and Praetorian Property Mutual Fund declined by a cent to end at $3.40.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had only 2 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 2 stocks with offers that were lower.

Filed Under: Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: , ,

FX: Buying down selling up

March 17, 2014 by

Monday, 17th March 2014 | Dealers bought US$7 million less than they sold but both the selling and the buying rates fell in today’s ForEx trading. Overall, dealers bought US$26,134,543 versus US$32,158,590 on the previous trading day as the rate fell by 43 cents to an average of $108.25 and sold US$33,188,609 for 4 cents higher at $109.31, $11.5 million more than the amount of US$21,791,303 sold on the previous trading day.

The average buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell 51 cents to $96.32, as C$1,186,679 was purchased by dealers and C$650,246 was sold at $98.81 for a 5 cents rise. There was purchasing of £1,987,834 as the rate fell 36 cents to end at $179.41 and £1,556,902 was sold, with the rate rising $1.36 to $183.65.

Other currencies bought amounted to the equivalent of US$807,867 while US$693,308 was sold.

FX_TRADE+Currency+Mar17Buying of foreign currency on Monday resulted in the equivalent of US$31,292,863 purchased compared with US$35,308,641 purchased on Friday, while dealers sold US$37,085,469 compared to US$24,480,952 on the previous trading day. In contrast on Monday, March 10, dealers bought a total of US$48,574,825 in all currencies and sold the equivalent of US$43,973,841.

Highs & Lows | The highest and lowest rates were mixed on Monday.

FX_TRADE+HighLow+Mar17The highest buying rate for the US dollar was up 25 cents to $110.50, while the other rates were unchanged and closed at $88.51 for the lowest buying rate, $113.42 for the highest selling and $88.09 for the lowest selling rate.

The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell 5 cents to $99.35, the lowest buying rate was up 49 cents at $77.56. The highest selling rate ended up by 9 cents at $100.89 and the lowest selling fell by 25 cents at $93.45.

The highest buying rate for the British Pound rose $2.29 to $184.99, the lowest buying rate was down 83 cents to $144.25. The highest selling rate ended 21 cents lower at $185.97 and the lowest buying rate fell $1 to $173.80.

Filed Under: FX Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , ,

TTSE: Moderate trading continues

March 17, 2014 by

Monday, 17th March 2014 | A total of 10 securities traded on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange of which 3 advanced, 3 declined and 4 traded firm. The Composite Index declined by 0.75 points to close at 1,182.17, the All T&T Index was edged down by 1.31 points to 2,009.50 and the Cross Listed Index eased by 0.02 points to close at 46.54.

Trading resulted in 184,581 shares crossing hands valued at $3,823,527.

Gains | Clico Investment Fund posting a volume of 146,580 shares valued at $3,173,881, gained 2 cents to close at $21.67; Point Lisas Industrial Port traded 247 units at $3.65 for a 5 cents rise and Scotia Investments had 15,067 shares changing hands for a value of $23,957 to close at $1.59, up 6 cents.

TTSEMar17Declines | First Citizens Bank, with a volume of 9,794 shares, traded for $366,293 as the price fell 65 cents to close at $37; Sagicor Financial Corporation contributed 5,957 shares with a value of $43,486 as the price closed lower by 9 cents at $7.30 and Neal & Massy traded 2,300 units at 2 cents lower at $66.30.

Firm Trades | Angostura Holdings traded just 52 units to close at $11; Guardian Holdings added 3,000 shares valued at $43,410 as the price closed at $14.47; First Caribbean International Bank exchanged 1,500 units at $5.75 and West Indian Tobacco 84 units at $118.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 3 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 3 stocks with offers lower.

Filed Under: Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: , ,

JSE: Selling hits C&W

March 14, 2014 by

Friday, 14th March 2014 | Cable & Wireless (C&W) was the dominant trade with 29,835,502 units valued at $14 million on the Jamaica Stock Exchange as a wide array of sellers entered the market and buyers were hardly anywhere to be seen. Sellers increased the amount on sale with 49 offers posted between 45 cents and $9.90 versus only 24 bids to buy, ranging from 41 cents down to 10 cents. Of the amount of C&W shares traded, one transaction accounted for 29,447,165 units at 47 cents each. The stock closed at 45 cents for a fall of 6 cents.

The prices of 7 stocks rose and 9 declined as 27 securities traded resulting in 38,136,579 shares trading valued at $31,436,519.

Main Market | 5 companies in the main and US based market advanced and 7 declined as the indices moved down marginally with the JSE Market Index falling by 505.69 points to 76,804.37 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index dropping by 565.21 points to close at 84,588.38.

Main Market Gains | Stocks recording gains are Carreras with 3,161 shares while gaining 50 cents to close at $35.50; National Commercial Bank with 28,743 shares as the price gained 10 cents to close at $19.10; Proven Investments ordinary with 49,076 units changing hands and closed at 18 US cents gaining 0.05 cents; Sagicor Group 49,249 shares at $9.14 up 4 cents and Scotia Group with 64,014 at $21.70 for a 70 cents gain.

Firm | Gleaner with 152,736 shares closing at $1.20; Jamaica Broilers with 12,196 units to close at $4.80; Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference, 975,000 units at $2 and the 8.75% traded 30,000 units at $3.01; Jamaica Stock Exchange 10,700 shares at $2; Mayberry Investments 11,000 shares to close at $1.90 and Proven Investments 8% preference, 43,500 units to close at $5.09.

Declines | The stocks declining are Cable & Wireless that closed at 45 cents; Berger Paints lost 15 cents while trading 759 units at $1.70; Jamaica Money Market Brokers ordinary had 226,516 changing hands for a one cent fall while closing at $7.19; Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.25% preference had 80,000 shares at $2.49, down by a cent; Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded only 3,379 units to close with a fall of 5 cents to $7.15; Scotia Investments lost $3.90 to close at $23.10 as 4,856 shares traded and Supreme Ventures swapped 10,000 units at $2.10 as the price slipped 25 cents to a new 52 weeks low.

JSEIndicesMar14Junior Market trading | The JSE Junior Market Index advanced by 16.63 points to close at 744.13 as 8 stocks traded with 2 advancing and 2 declining.

Junior Market gains | Stocks trading up are Lasco Distributors with 4,459,908 units to close at $1.40, up 10 cents and Lasco Manufacturing with 1,240,076 shares, 9 cents higher at $1.33.

Firm Trades | Access Financial Services traded 5,500 units to close at $9; Caribbean Producers 5,000 shares to close at $2.70; Dolphin Cove 2,480 units to close at $8.40 and General Accident 414,539 units to close at $1.60.

Declines | Lasco Financial Services lost a cent in trading 73,189 units to close at $1.21 and Medical Disposables closed down 10 cents to $2.10 while trading 345,500 shares.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 3 stocks with offers lower.

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: , , ,