TTSE: Small price changes greet week

January 20, 2014 by

Monday, 20th January 2014 | Trading on the Trinidad market started the week on a winning note with 10 securities changing hands of which 2 advanced, 1 declined and 7 traded firm. A volume of 265,019 shares changed hands with a value of $4,800,010 by the end of trading. Neal & Massy and First Citizens Bank closed at 52 weeks high.

The Composite Index advanced by 0.16 points to 1,196.37, the all T&T Index gained 0.32 points to close at 2,018.87 and the Cross Listed Index remained unchanged at 49.14.

Stocks gaining | First Citizens had volume of 54,628 shares traded for $2,348,347 with the price ending up 3 cents at $43 another all-time closing high; National Enterprises contributed 25,000 shares with a value of $450,142, the price inched up a cent to $18.01; Neal & Massy close up 3 cents at $63.03 with very small volume trading.

Stocks that fell | Prestige Holdings was the only declining stock with 2,988 shares changing ownership at $9.40, down 4 cents from the final price on Friday.

TTSEJan20Stocks trading firm | Grace Kennedy added 12,500 shares valued at $46,250 closing at $3.70; Trinidad Cement swapped 90,613 shares at $2.30 with a value of $208,410; Clico Investment Fund traded unchanged at $22.50 with 71,953 shares valued at $1,618,943.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with bids higher than the last selling prices and 3 stocks with offers that were lower.

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

FX: Better UK retail sales push pound

January 17, 2014 by

Friday, 17th January 2014 | In forex trading. the British Pound gained considerably against most major international currencies as retail sales in the UK was reported to be very strong compared to estimates for December coming in at a 5.2 percent increase compared to an estimate of 2.5 percent. The Pound shot up immediately on the announcement.

The Canadian dollar on the other hand is suffering from concerns that a drop in employment reported for December and other signs of weakness in economic data will probably lead to lower interest rates to help boost the economy. These developments were visible in local currency trading on Friday.

The Jamaican dollar make up ground on the Canadian dollar but slipped in value against the British Pound and the US dollar on a day that saw more buying of USA and Canadian dollars than the amount sold but more selling of the Pound than the quantity bought.

Trading picked with more currencies bought than on Thursday with the equivalent of US$32,338,697 being purchased by dealers versus US$32,877,488 being sold.

FX_TRADE+Currency+Jan17There was buying of US$28,020,320 by dealers at an average rate of $106.24 an increase of 23 cents and selling of US$27,638,881 with the rate increasing by 4 cents to $106.87. The Canadian dollar rate eased by 22 cents to end at $95.83 as dealers bought C$932,300 and sold C$622,107 at $97.73 for a 31 cents fall and the British Pound rate climbed by $2.19 to hit $174.11 as dealers bought £1,479,640 and sold £2,242,811 at $177.46 as the rate closed up by $2.26.

Other currencies trading picked up considerably over Thursday’s level of the equivalent of US$194,967 purchased to US$1,052,638 on Friday and selling of US$945,591 compared to US$173,291 sold on Thursday.

Highs & Lows | The highest buying rate for the US dollar closed at $107.85, up 35 cents for the day and the lowest buying rate remained unchanged at $87.01. The highest selling rate dropped by $1.76 to close at $109.73 and the low fell by $1.30, the same amount it increased by the day before to close at $102.60.

The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar jumped big on Friday by $6.60 to end at $105.05, while the low closed unchanged at $77.85 as well the highest selling rate at $101 and the lowest selling rate of $93.80.

FX_TRADE+HighLow+Jan17The highest buying rate for the British Pound ended at $177.55, an increase of $1.85, the low was unchanged at $140.81. The highest selling rate gained by 64 cents to end at $178.77 and the low jumped by $25.45 to close at $169.65.

Image courtesy of Marcus/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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

JSE: Lousy trading to end week

January 17, 2014 by

Friday, 17th January 2014 | Only 21 securities traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on the last day of the week accounting for a total of 1,644,332 shares with a value of only $2,481,056. Trading concluded with 6 stocks up and 4 down. So bad were things that at one stage after mid-day, only one stock traded in the main market.

The JSE Market Index declined by 304.69 points to close at 79,922.91, the JSE All Jamaican Composite fell 462.19 points to 81,207.74 and the JSE Junior Market Index advanced by 3.15 points to end at 794.99.

Main market trades | The major traded stocks in the main market include Cable & Wireless with 1,029,000 units at 19 cents; Jamaica Producers Group 27,972 units to close at $18.76; National Commercial Bank only 7,270 units but the price closed up 15 cents at $18; Sagicor Group 18,955 units at $8.50; Scotia Group 10,871 units at $20.96, up 91 cents; Scotia Investments only 3,660 units but the price moved up $1.50 to $26.50.

In the preference section, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% traded 50,000 unchanged at $2 and the 8.75% shares traded 67,600 to close unchanged at $3.

JSEIndicesJan17Junior Market | Most of the trading activity in the morning hours were concentrated around junior market stocks and resulted in Consolidated Bakeries trading 40,900 units at $1.15, down 5 cents; Dolphin Cove 21,470 units at $9; General Accident Insurance 61,000 units at $1.89; Lasco Distributors 137,800 units at $1.45; Lasco Financial Services 77,300 units at $1.35, up 4 cents and Lasco Manufacturing 75,166 units at $1.25, down 5 cents.

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

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

TTSE: Market up with 3 new highs

January 17, 2014 by

Friday, 17th January 2014 | The Trinidad Stock Market closed the week with 13 securities changing hands of which 3 advanced, none declined and 10 traded firm. Trading resulted in 604,185 shares with a value of $12,669,080.

The Composite Index advanced by 0.65 points to close at 1,196.21, the All T&T Index gained 1.31 points to finish the day at 2,018.55 and the Cross Listed Index remained unchanged at 49.14.

Winners | Stocks closing with gains include First Citizens Bank with 48,548 shares valued at $2,086,339, the price closed up 11 cents at $42.97 for another all-time closing high. Neal & Massy put on 38 cents to end the day at $63.01 while trading 4,862 units, another 52 weeks high. Scotiabank with a volume of 92,667 shares being traded for $6,775,811 the stock closed at a new 52 weeks high of $73.12 up 2 cents.

TTSEJan17Firm traders | While there were no stocks to close lower than the last sale price from the day before, a number traded without any price change. These include Grace Kennedy with 304,374 shares to close at $3.70, for a value of $1,126,184; National Enterprises 51,660 shares to close at $18 with a value of $929,880; Prestige Holdings, 3,150 shares to close at $9.44; Trinidad Cement 25,801 units at $2.30; Sagicor Financial 10,708 units at $7.30; Scotia Investments 3,951 shares at $1.43.

Clico Investment Fund traded 55,393 shares valued at $1,246,343, the price remained unchanged at $22.50.

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 prices and 3 stocks with offers lower.

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

FX: US$ bought as high as J$111.49

January 16, 2014 by

Thursday, 16th January 2014 | Trading in United States currency resulted in US$18,717,231 bought at a 4 cents increase to $106.02 and US$22,309,751 was sold at $106.83 for a 7 cents increase. But the coveted currency was bought by end users as high as $111.49. There was buying of C$959,746 at $96.06 for a fall of 22 cents and selling of C$511,228 at $98.03, which was down by 57 cents. Purchases took place for £864,483 with the rate falling by $1.99 to $171.92 and £560,854 was sold at $175.20, a decline of 75 cents.

Other currencies traded amount to the equivalent of US$194,967 being purchased and selling of US$173,291. Overall the total amount of foreign currencies bought came to the equivalent of US$21,183,611 and US$23,871,986 was sold.

FX_TRADE+Currency+Jan16Highs & Lows | The highest buying rate for the US dollar closed at $107.50 and the lowest buying rate at $87.01 as both remained unchanged at the end of trading. The highest selling rate jumped by $2.08 to close at $111.49 and the low jumped $1.30 to $103.90.

The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar ended at $98.45, a 15 cents decrease, while the low closed down 46 cents at $77.85. The highest selling rate decreased by 50 cents at $101 and the lowest closed down 30 cents at $93.80 and continues to reflect Canadian economic weakness, which is seen in the fall in the value of the currency worldwide.

FX_TRADE+HighLow+Jan16The highest buying rate for the British Pound ended at $175.70, a decline of $1.05, the low was up by 54 cents to $140.81. The highest selling rate declined by 34 cents to end at $178.13 and the low dropped by $25.60 to close at $144.20.

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

JSE: Scotia Group dominates trading

January 16, 2014 by

Thursday, 16th January 2014 | There was trading in 6,155,581 shares on the JSE with a value of $119,874,816 on a day when 10 stocks advanced in price 8 declined and 11 remained unchanged at the end of trading. While trading levels were up and well above that of a recent typical day, Scotia Group accounted of 4.1 million units at $20.80 with a value of $85.3 million, amounts that are above recent norms. NCB Capital was the selling broker for 3.963 million units with First Global buying them on behalf of clients.

All indices with activity posted gains with the JSE Market Index moving up by 386.64 points to close at 80,227.60, the JSE All Jamaican Composite gained 586.50 points to end at 81,669.93 and the JSE Junior Market Index advancing 1.90 points to 791.84.

Main Market | Activity in the main market saw the leading traded stocks being Cable & Wireless having 256,073 units and closed at 19 cents; Carreras 6,925 units to close at $36.50 for a $1.50 decline; Desnoes & Geddes 11,300 units to close at $4.98; Grace Kennedy with 502,300 units closing firm at $56; Jamaica Broilers with 63,553 shares at $5, up by 20 cents; Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 22,797 units, closing firm at $7.50; Mayberry Investments 52,568 shares, unchanged at $2; National Commercial Bank 38,398 units at $17.85, up by 35 cents; Sagicor Real Estate X Fund, 11,732 shares unchanged at $6.50; Scotia Group 4,106,920 units and closed at $20.05 off by 75 cents, with the bulk of trading at $20.80; Seprod 12,072 shares to close down by $1.90 at $10.80; Supreme Ventures 10,000 units, ending at $2.40, down by 11 cents and Proven Investments with 87,000 ordinary shares changing hands at US13.3 cents.

Two stocks traded in the preference section, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% with 55,340 units at $3 and Proven Investments 8% 173,000 shares at $5.08, slipping by a cent.

JSEIndicesJan16Junior Market | There was fair amount of trading in the junior market as the index continues to accumulate gains. In today’s trading Blue Power lost 50 cents as 40,000 shares traded at $9.50; Caribbean Producers continues in demand and posted 343,997 units to close unchanged at $2.75 but traded as high as $2.80; Cargo Handlers traded 17,000 shares and gained 10 cents at $13.60; Consolidated Bakeries exchanged 14,200 units to close up by 5 cents at $1.20; Lasco Distributors posted 20,000 shares and closed firm at $1.45; Lasco Financial Services traded 52,000 units at $1.31; Lasco Manufacturing traded 32,435 units at $1.30 and Medical Disposables & Supplies traded 212,289 units at $1.98.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 7 stocks with bids higher than the last selling prices and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.

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

TTSE: 3 new highs but volume back to earth

January 16, 2014 by

Thursday, 16th January 2014 | There were 3 new highs at the end of trading in Trinidad, and the volume of stocks trading fell back from Wednesday’s high, but with the same number of securities being active; 16 securities of which 5 advanced, 4 declined and 7 traded firm.

The Composite Index gained 2.27 points to close at 1,195.56, the all T&T Index advanced by 7.43 points to 2,017.24 and the Cross Listed Index inched down by 0.35 points to end at 49.14. Trading volume amounted to 562,147 shares with a value of $9,362,629, well down on the $33 million of trading on Wednesday.

Stocks advancing | Stocks to enjoy gains during the day include First Citizens Bank added 48,382 units valued at $2,056,291 with the price hitting yet another high, increasing by 40 cents to $43; Neal & Massy Holdings contributed 36,990 shares with a value of $2,316,565, the price rose by $1 to end the at $63, a new 52 weeks high; National Enterprises added 27,500 shares valued at $495,000 the price gained 40 cents to $18, for a 52 weeks high; Grace gained 8 cents to end at $370 with only 300 shares changing hands and Republic Bank gained 4 cents to close at $116.18 with just 270 units.

Stocks falling | Angostura Holdings traded 66,156 shares for $780,641 but the price slipped 19 cents to close at $11.80; Point Lisas Industrial Port Development lost 10 cents to close at $3.50 while trading 17,200 units; Scotia Investment lost 7 cents in closing at $1.43 with 1,800 units and National Commercial Bank ended up shedding 6 cents to close at $1.05 as 5,000 units traded.

TTSEJan16Stocks traded firm | Stocks that traded unchanged in price include Trinidad Cement with 180,299 shares changing hands for $414,688 with the price closing at $2.30; Sagicor Financial 20,000 units closing at 7.30; National Flour Mills 3,542 shares at 96 cents; Guardian Holdings 2,660 units at $13.76.

Clico Investment Fund with 174,950 shares valued at $3,936,462 as the price remained at $22.50.

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 prices and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.

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

BOJ ups FX market activity

January 16, 2014 by

During January there were some days of unusually high levels of selling of foreign exchange, which were well in excess of the amounts bought. These increased levels points to the country’s central bank having some input into the trades.

IC Insider made contact with Bank of Jamaica who provided the following response.

“Since the start of January 2014 to the 10th, BOJ’s purchase of foreign exchange from the market was a daily average of US$9.95 million. This compares with a daily average of US$8.74 million for December 2013. However, the average daily sales to the market (public sector entities) was US$11.12 million compared to US$2.0 million in December”.

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

FX: Selling exceeds buying by US$1m

January 15, 2014 by

Wednesday, 15th January 2014 | The purchasing of foreign currency totalled the equivalent of US$28,558,748 and sales amounted to US$29,402,338 or just US$1 million difference.

Trading in individual currencies saw US$23,930,242 being purchased at an average of $105.98 for an 11 cent decline and sales of US$24,603,488 for a 5 cent increase to $106.76. Buying of the Canadian dollar amounted to C$917,128 at $96.28 for a fall of 46 cents and selling saw the rate increasing by 71 cents to $98.61 as C$1,904,805 was sold. The British Pound was purchased at $173.90 by dealers as they bought £2,215,311 as the rate moved up by $1.17 for the day and sold £1,636,308 at $175.95, down by $1.28.

FX_TRADE+Currency+Jan15Other currencies bought amounted to the equivalent of US$160,030 and selling was for US$342,780.

Highs & Lows | The highest buying rate for the US dollar closed at $107.50, an increase of 25 cents, the lowest buying rate climbed 17 cents to $87.01. The highest selling rate remained unchanged at $109.41 and the low jumped $16.18 to $102.60.

The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar ended at $98.60, a 66 cents decrease, while the low closed up 29 cents at $78.31. The highest selling rate increased by $1 at $101.50 and the lowest closed down 25 cents at $94.10.

FX_TRADE+HighLow+Jan15The highest buying rate for the British Pound ended at $176.75, up 55 cents and the low was unchanged at $140.27. The highest selling rate was up by 36 cents to end at $178.47 and the low closed up 80 cents at $169.80.

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

JSE: Advancing stocks even with declining ones

January 15, 2014 by

Wednesday, 15th January 2014 | In today’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Market, a total of 2,118,071 shares changed hands, for a value of $9,334,966, with 11 stocks advancing in price and 10 declining.

At the close of trading, the JSE Market Index declined by 24.33 points to close at 79,840.96, the JSE All Jamaican Composite eased by 36.92 points to close at 81,083.43 but the JSE Junior Market Index advanced by 3.87 points to close at 789.94.

KLE Group stock closed at $1, a new all-time low and has lost 72 percent from the IPO price and Jamaican Teas closed at $3.06 a new 52 weeks low.

Main Market | The main traded stocks in the main market include Cable & Wireless with 211,849 units to close at 18 cents; Caribbean Cement 77,500 units as the priced closed at $3.39; Carreras gained 49 cents while trading 54,830 units to close at $38; Desnoes & Geddes 153,360 units to close at $5; Grace Kennedy gained $1 to close at $56 with only a small volume; Jamaica Money Market Brokers 13,375 shares at $7.50; Jamaica Producers 15,142 shares to close at $18.75; Mayberry Investments 506,760 shares at $2; National Commercial Bank 27,640 units with the price ending at $17.50 after falling by 12 cents; Pulse Investments 50,000 shares with the price closing up 22 cents at 99 cents; Sagicor Group gained 5 cents with 52,680 shares, to end at $8.20; Sagicor Real Estate X Fund 34,356 units at $6.50; and Scotia Group 69,270 units to close at $20.80 up by 70 cents.

Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference shares trade 281,061units to close firm at $3.

JSEIndicesJan15Junior Market | Trading in junior market stocks saw the main trades as AMG Packaging 22,857 shares to close at $3.48; Caribbean Cream 54,641 units, closing at $1, after reporting earnings in the November quarter of $11 million or 3 cents per share; Caribbean Producers 198,848 units to close firm at $2.75; Consolidated Bakeries 41,435 shares to close at $1.15; Dolphin Cove gained 50 cents to close at $9 on a small volume; Jamaican Teas 35,200 shares at $3.06 down, 34 cents; KLE Group 16,000 units down 10 cents, at $1; Lasco Financial Services 65,000 units at $1.30; Lasco Manufacturing 88,467 shares at $1.29 and Medical Disposables & Supplies 13,500 units at $2.

Knutsford Express was listed today. There was no trade but there was a bid for 19,626 shares at $5.01.

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 prices and 2 stocks with offers lower.

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