Investors knocked 42.94 points off the Junior Market Index on Monday to close at 2,524.48 points with 27 percent fewer shares trading than on Friday and 18 percent lower value.
Trading ended with 32 securities changing hands compared to 30 on Friday and closed with the prices of 10 stocks rising, 12 declining and 10 remaining unchanged.
At the close, the Junior Market Index dropped 42.94 points to settle at 2,524.48. The average PE Ratio of the market ended at 10.9 based on the IC Insider.com forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
The market closed with an exchange of 6,359,921 shares for $13,064,680 compared to 8,653,225 units at $15,890,750 on Friday. Tropical Battery led trading with 70.1 percent of total volume after an exchange of 4.46 million shares, followed by MailPac Group with 6.4 percent for 409,301 units and Lumber Depot with 4.7 percent market or 299,442 shares.
Trading ended with an average of 198,748 units at $408,271 in contrast to 288,441 at $529,692 on Friday. For the month to date, the average trade resulted in 791,382 units at $1,478,168, compared to 1,092,403 units at $2,021,607 on Friday. Trading in September resulted in an average of 119,171 units at 249,355.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the market shows three stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial fell $1.88 to $22.12, with 1,000 shares crossing the exchange, AMG Packaging gained 16 cents ending at $1.79, in trading 15,837 stock units, Blue Power shed 50 cents to close at $3.08 after exchanging 1,208 units. Cargo Handlers ended $1.45 lower at $6.35, with investors swapping 400 shares, Caribbean Assurance Brokers lost 14 cents to close at $1.85, after 3,249 stock units crossed the exchange, Caribbean Flavours gained 10 cents to end at $18.50, in exchanging 185,769 shares. Caribbean Producers gained 20 cents to finish at $2.40 trading 28,945 shares, Consolidated Bakeries closed at $1.35, with gains of 23 cents, with 8,414 stock units changing hands, Dolphin Cove finished 10 cents higher at $7, in trading 284 units. Express Catering picked up 3 cents to end at $4.08, after exchanging 3,740 stock units, Fontana lost 2 cents to settle at $5.03 trading 74,649 shares, Fosrich slipped 15 cents to close at $3.75, with 5,054 stock units changing hands. 
General Accident gained 20 cents to close at $6.35, with 1,575 units crossing the market, Honey Bun rose 10 cents to $4.90, after an exchange of 28,625 shares, Indies Pharma lost 22 cents in ending at $2.68, after trading 19,700 stock units. Jamaican Teas lost 14 cents to finish at $4.86, after exchanging 224,378 shares, Lasco Distributors carved out a gain of 2 cents to settle at $3.13, after clearing the market with 1,203 stock units, Lasco Financial picked up 5 cents to finish at $2.10, with 163,405 shares crossing the exchange. Lumber Depot lost 1 cent to settle at $1.10, after clearing the market with 299,442 shares, Mailpac Group fell 2 cents to $1.98, with a transfer of 409,301 shares, Medical Disposables shed 29 cents to close at $4.74, with investors switching ownership of 3,753 stock units and Tropical Battery fell 9 cents to settle at $1.08, in an exchange of 4,460,990 shares.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
At the close, the All Jamaican Composite Index advanced by 4,791.17 points to 408,016.86, the Main Index climbed 4,053.26 points to 372,153.01 and the JSE Financial Index gained 1.04 points to settle at 97.24.
Trading month to date compares adversely to September’s average of 265,170 units at $3,271,625.
JMMB Group gained 40 cents to close at $29.50, with an exchange of 145,377 shares, Kingston Wharves gained 85 cents to finish at $50, with 8,689 units crossing the market. Mayberry Investments shed 74 cents to end at $5.40, with 3,052 units changing hands, Mayberry Jamaican Equities rose 50 cents to $8.50, in transferring 57,660 shares, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy jumped $7 to $170, after exchanging 428 units. Pan Jam Investment climbed $1.50 to $69.50, with 15,507 shares crossing the market, Portland JSX closed $1.14 higher at $8.19, in transferring 10,378 stock units, Sagicor Group gained 90 cents to settle at $45, with 20,241 stocks changing hands. Scotia Group dropped $3.17 to finish at $46.31 trading 55,877 shares, Sygnus Credit Investments gained 49 cents in closing at $19.49, with an exchange of 8,778 units and Wisynco Group lost 39 cents to close at $15.60 transferring 150,994 shares.
At the close of the market, First Rock Capital Investment remained at 9 US cents after an exchange of 1,000 shares, Sterling Investments lost one-tenth of a cent and closed at 2 US cents with investors switching ownership of 100,000 units. Sygnus Credit Investments remained at 13 US cents, with 2,000 stocks crossing the exchange and Transjamaican Highway inched higher by 0.01 of a cent and ended at 0.091 of a US cent with the swapping 160,000 stock units.
The market closed with eleven securities trading with three stocks advancing, two declining and six remaining unchanged. The volume of stocks passing through the market amounted to 211,449 shares valued $2,768,849 compared to 478,583 shares for $6,975,688 on Friday from 18 securities.
For a fourth consecutive week, there were no changes in the companies on the IC TOP 10 listings. The markets moved moderately higher to close at their highest levels since mid-August for the junior Market. The Main Market closed at its highest level at the close of September since the beginning of July gave up all the gains on Wednesday and Tuesday to close back at mid-September level on Friday.
This week’s focus: Jamaican Teas came in for increased buying during the past week after the company advised the Jamaica Stock Exchange that the board of directors will meet to determine a new record date for the sub-division of the Company’s shares, following the deferral at the Annual General meeting. The stock traded at $4.30 on September 29 and closed at $4.83 on Wednesday, with 161,040 units changing hands, with the offer at $4.50. The volume ballooned to over one million units on Thursday, with the price hitting $5.55 during the day. The company completed the 2020 fiscal year at the end of September.
The market’s targeted average PE ratio is 20 based on the profits of companies reporting full year’s results, from now to the second quarter in 2021. Both the Junior and Main markets are currently trading well below this level, indicating the potential gains ahead. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 15.1 and the Junior Market 11.2, based on IC Insider.com’s projected 2020-21 earnings. The average PE ratio of the Junior Market has been slowly rising, with better profit opportunities than the Main Market and narrowing the gap. The PE ratio for the Junior Market Top 10 stocks average a mere 6.1 at just 54 percent to the overall Junior Market average. The Main Market TOP 10 stocks trade at a PE of 8.2 or 54 percent of the PE of the overall market.
The average projected gain for the Junior Market IC TOP 10 stocks is 283 percent, and 153 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings, indicates potentially greater gains in the Junior Market than in the Main Market.
The average trade for the month to date ended at 198,584 units at $1,542,965 for each security, in contrast to September’s average of 265,170 units at $3,271,625.
MPC Caribbean Clean Energy advanced by $28 to $163, after trading only one stock unit, NCB Financial fell $1 in closing at $130 and clearing the market with 91,324 shares, PanJam Investment climbed $2 to close at $68, in trading 24,433 stock units. Sagicor Group dropped $2.30 to $44.10, with investors switching ownership of 9,874 units, Seprod shed 90 cents to finish at $55, in exchanging 15,520 shares. Supreme Ventures declined by $1.25 to settle at $14.75, in transferring 120,086 units, Sygnus Credit Investments fell 50 cents to close at $19, after clearing the market with 23,747 stock units and Wisynco Group gained 47 cents to settle at $15.99, in trading 1,215,482 shares.
Trading in September ended, with an average of 119,171 units at $249,355.
Jamaican Teas climbed 9 cents to finish at $5 with 399,447 units traded, Jetcon Corporation slid 4 cents to settle at 91 cents with the switching of ownership of 10,700 stock units, Knutsford Express gained 10 cents to end at $6.90 with an exchange of just three shares. Lasco Manufacturing rose 9 cents to close at $3.50 in trading 761 units, Limners and Bards advanced 10 cents to finish at $2.75 with 44,679 shares changing hands, Lumber Depot increased 4 cents to end at $1.11 with 404,255 stocks passing through the market. Mailpac Group slipped 5 cents in trading 1,708,177 stock units to close at $2, Tropical Battery slipped 1 cent to $1.17 with investors switching ownership of 5,436,363 shares, while Stationery and Office Supplies dropped 77 cents to finish at $4.82 with 1,000 stocks crossing the exchange.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the market shows
The market closed with eighteen securities trading with the prices of four stocks advancing, six stocks declining, while eight closed unchanged. The volume of stocks passing through the market amounted to 478,583 shares valued at $6,975,688 compared to 59,390 shares for $1,206,644 on Thursday from 13 securities.
JMMB Group lost 4 cents, with investors swapping 345,635 shares to settle at $ 1.70, One Caribbean Media shed 10 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $5, after the transfer of 9,785 stock units and Trinidad and Tobago NGL ended 5 cents lower at $15.45, with 10,005 shares changing hands.
At the close, the All Jamaican Composite Index dived 4,940.46 points to 411,986.10; the Main Index declined 4,741.22 points to 375,684.76 and the JSE Financial Index shed 1.90 points to settle at 98.55.
Trading ended with an average of 174,792 units changing hands at $1,114,224 for each security compared to an average of 363,264 shares at $4,595,186 on Wednesday. Trading in September averaged 265,170 units at $3,271,625.
Mayberry Investments declined 95 cents to close at $5.30 while exchanging 10 shares. Mayberry Jamaican Equities closed at $8, with a loss of 30 cents after 1,007,542 stocks passed through the market, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy fell $15 to $135, in trading 361 units, PanJam Investment fell $3.50 to $66, with investors switching ownership of 4,329 units. Proven Investments finished $2.45 lower at $36, with 20,251 stock units crossing the market, Pulse Investments shed 47 cents in ending at $4.53, with investors switching ownership of 277,932 shares, Scotia Group lost 40 cents to end at $49.48 after exchanging 9,525 stock units. Stanley Motta dropped 42 cents to $4.70, in transferring 10,411 units, Supreme Ventures rose $2 to $16, in trading 222,950 shares and Wisynco Group lost $1.38 to settle at $15.52, in exchanging 49,570 stock units.
