Trading in the Jamaican foreign exchange market resulted in the Jamaican dollar slipping slightly against the US dollar on Friday but rising against the Pound and Canadian. The market ended with dealers buying the equivalent of US$43,527,882 and selling US$36,684,327, in contrast to US$30,209,395 purchased and US$32,885,951 sold on Thursday.
In US dollars trading, dealers bought US$39,284,534 compared to US$27,859,338 on Thursday, with the buying rate for the US dollar rising 15 cents to $121.48. A total of US$34,523,089 was sold versus US$30,893,426 on Thursday as the selling rate climbed 2 cents to $122.03. The Canadian dollar buying rate gained 77 cents to end at $88.73 with dealers buying C$1,158,202 and selling C$1,229,514, at an average rate that fell 57 cents to $91.69. The rate for buying the British Pound climbed 42 cents to $170.04 for the purchase of £2,250,064, while £558,147 was sold, the rate fell 15 cents to $172.22. At the end of trading, the selling rate for Euro, climbed $1.70 to close at J$135.99, from Thursday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$133.21 for a rise of $170 on Thursday’s rate. 
The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded, amounts to US$247,992 being bought, while US$449,658 was sold.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest rates the currencies traded at on Friday are, a rise of $1.10 in the lowest selling rate of the Canadian dollar that closed at $87.20 and a rise of $1.50 in the highest buying rate of the British Pound that landed at $175.60.
J$ slips v US on Friday
JSE closes almost flat – Friday
Main market stocks collectively barely moved forward on Friday, with declining stocks being out-numbered by advancing ones 2 to1 with 10 stocks rising in the main market versus 5 declining. For the overall market, 29 securities changed hands, in all market segments with 14 rising and 5 declining.
The market closed with 11,607,440 units valued at $57,615,849 changing hands in all markets. The junior market accounted for 8,492,562 units changing hands, valued at $27,397,677.
The JSE Market Index gained just 7.60 points to 153,612.85 the all Jamaica Composite Index rose 8.50 points to end at 170,627.32 and the JSE combined index fell 215.80 points to close at 161,887.63.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading was 16 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 7 with lower offers.
At the end of the market activities, Berger Paints ended with 28,300 shares trading at $4, Cable & Wireless closed with a loss of 1 cent at $1.40 with 802,055 units changing hands, Caribbean Cement added 80 cents to end at $20 with 151,107 shares trading. Carreras lost 49 cents to close at $64.50, while trading 11,000 units, Gleaner added just 1 cent to close at $2.01 with 184,073 shares changing hands, Grace Kennedy closed with 15,092 shares trading at $83, well below the $97 equivalent, it traded at, in Trinidad on Friday. Jamaica Broilers traded 33,000 units to close at $14.50, Jamaica Stock Exchange traded 31,000 shares to end with a gain of 50 cents at $22.50, JMMB Group had 25,490 units changing hands but fell 11 cents in closing at $10.49, Kingston Wharves traded 214,520 shares to close at $11.50 after rising 5 cents. 
Mayberry Investments had 27,938 shares trading at $4.40 for a rise of 35 cents, National Commercial Bank rose 3 cents with 102,600 shares changing hands, to close at $41.03, Proven Investments ordinary share traded 714,100 units at 20 US cents, down from 22 US cents, Pulse Investments added 36 cents to close at $2.91 with 77,000 units changing hands. Radio Jamaica ended with 25,862 units changing hands to gain 10 cents and close at $3.95, Sagicor Group gained 5 cents with 548,431 shares changing hands at $23.20, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 11,087 shares at $11. Scotia Group had 63,275 shares changing hands to close 50 cents higher at $31 and Supreme Ventures closed at $4.70 with 33,725 units changing hands.
5 TTSE stocks closed at lows – Friday
Massy trades at a new low
Trading ended with 1,626,064 shares valued at $5,597,508 changing hands. A total of 18 securities traded with 7 security falling, 4 gaining while 7 remained unchanged. A total of 5 stocks closed at a 52 weeks’ low.
The market closed with the Composite Index falling 2.61 points to close at 1,160.51, the All T&T Index dropping 4.87 points to close at 1,866.68 and the Cross Listed Index declined by 0.05 points to close at 60.29.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator has turned negative with 4 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 6 with offers that were lower. More telling is the fact that a third of the listings have no bids to buy.
Gains| JMMB Group traded 15,406 shares to close with a gain of 2 cents at 60 cents. National Flour closed with 19,525 shares changing hands with a gain of 10 cents at $1.95, Sagicor Financial Corporation closed with 84,981 shares changing hands with a value of $594,867 at $7 after rising 1 cent and Trinidad and Tobago NGL jumped 75 cents in trading 55,321 shares valued at $1,050,007 to close at $19.
Losses| Ansa McAl contributed 84 shares in closing with a loss of 7 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ low of $63.68, Massy Holdings ended with 39 shares changing hands as the price dropped 5 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ low of $57.79. Mora Ven Holdings traded for the first time had just 1 units changing hands but shed $1.09 to close at a new low of $17.70, National Enterprises closed with 10,080 shares changing hands at $12.50 after declining 50 cents, to close at a 52 weeks’ low. READYMIX traded just 1 share but dropped $1.09 to close at a new low of $17.70, after it failed to trade for several months, having exhibited weak demand, Scotiabank closed with 15 shares changing hands to end at $59.72 after slipping 2 cents and Scotia Investments closed with a loss of 20 cents at $1.80 while trading 112,064 shares.
Firm Trades| Berger Paint ended with 900 shares changing hands to close at $3.68, Clico Investments traded 16,150 shares to close at $22.55, Firstcaribbean International Bank closed with 4,042 units changing hands at $6.50. Grace Kennedy close with 500 units changing hands to close at $5.13, Guardian Media traded 100 shares to close at $19.75, National Commercial Bank had 1,280,044 shares valued at $ $3,072,106 changing hands to close at $2.40 and Trinidad Cement closed with a loss of 1 cent at $3.70 with 26,812 shares changing hands.
Juniors 20% down from peak – Friday
Mayberry Investments made $2.3m from Lasco Trades in 2 days.
On Thursday Mayberry sold 7.82 million units of the stock from in house inventory, at $3.50 or better, pocketing a profit of $2.3 million as a result of the two days of trading in the stock.
The slippage in the price of Lasco Manufacturing was the main contributor the fall in the market index over the two days. The market suffered a third day of fall by dropping 24.68 points fall on Wednesday to end at 1,886.97. With only 7 securities trading, none declining and 4 advancing.
The market ended with 8,492,562 units changing hands, valued at $27,397,677 but with the exception trades for the three Lasco companies, volume was extremely low.
The decline in the market seems over with IC bid offer indicator pointing to rising prices ahead on Monday. At the close, 1 security ended with no bid and only 6 securities had no stocks being offered for sale. There were 9 stocks closing with bids that were higher than their last selling prices and 4 ended with lower offers.
In trading, AMG Packaging rose 35 cents with
only 1,500 units changing hands to close at $11.50, Caribbean Cream traded 5,911 as the price rose 83 cents to end at $4.10, Consolidated Bakeries traded just 700 units to end at $1.50, Jamaican Teas gained 50 cents in closing at $7.50 with 5,500 shares changing hands. Lasco Distributors closed with 44,507 units trading to end at $6, Lasco Financial gained 5 cents to end at $3.10 with 161,804 shares changing hands and Lasco Manufacturing ended with 8,272,640 shares changing hands to close at $3.50.
Sharp drop for juniors – Thursday
Lasco’s ICool. The stock traded 7.88M units on Thursday.
The market ended with 8,580,380 units changing hands, valued at $31,720,793 but with the exception trades for the two big Lasco companies, volume was very thin. At the close, 1 security ended with no bid and only 5 securities had no stocks being offered for sale. There were 5 stocks closing with bids that were higher than their last selling prices and none ended with a lower offer.
In trading, Access Financial Services ended with 3,448 units changing hands at $17 after falling by $3, AMG Packaging lost 25 cents with 2,255 units changing hands to close at $11.15, C2W Music had 9,000 shares trading to end at 43 cents. Caribbean Cream
that fell $1.23 to $3.27 on Wednesday, did not trade on Thursday but ended with a bid to buy 5,911 units at $4. Caribbean Producers had 5,000 units changing hands to close at $4.50, Consolidated Bakeries traded 2,642 units to end at $1.50, General Accident gained 19 cents in closing at $2.69 with 150,999 shares changing hands, Honey Bun lost 39 cents in trading 2,800 shares to close at $14.61. Lasco Distributors closed with 490,999 units trading to end at $6, Lasco Financial gained 4 cents to end at $3.05 with 24,700 shares changing hands, Lasco Manufacturing ended 55 cents lower in trading 7,880,027 shares to close at $3.50 and tTech traded 7,510 shares to close at $4.25.
J$ down on Thursday
Trading in the Jamaican foreign exchange market resulted in the Jamaican dollar slipping slightly against the US dollar on Thursday. The market ended with dealers buying the equivalent of US$30,209,395 and selling US$32,885,951, in contrast to US$35,500,755 purchased and US$40,719,380 sold on Wednesday.
In US dollars trading, dealers bought US$27,859,338 compared to US$31,719,075 on Wednesday, with the buying rate for the US dollar rising 7 cents to $121.33. A total of US$30,893,426 was sold versus US$37,320,280 on Wednesday as the selling rate climbed 5 cents to $122.01. The Canadian dollar buying rate fell $1.63 to end at $87.96 with dealers buying C$762,092 and selling C$1,488,191, at an average rate that rose $1.42 to $92.26. The rate for buying the British Pound dropped 51 cents to $169.62 for the purchase of £1,173,054, while £526,186 was sold, the rate fell 7 cents to $172.37. At the end of trading, the selling rate for Euro, fell 46 cents to close at J$134.29, from Wednesday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$131.51 for a fall of 37 cents on Wednesday’s rate. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies 
traded, amounts to US$157,632 being bought, while US$123,757 was sold.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest rates the currencies traded at on Thursday are, a rise of $18.30 in the lowest selling rate for the US dollar that ended at $118, a rise of $1.10 in the lowest selling rate of the Canadian dollar that closed at $86.10 and a rise of $2 in the lowest selling rate of the British Pound that landed at $166.
Decline continues for JSE – Thursday
The Jamaica Stock Exchange is again recording losses in the main market with 
the junior market recording a gain as limited volumes traded in a lackluster early morning session, on Thursday.
After 80 minutes of the market’s opening, only 23 securities traded, accounting for 2,286,712 shares changing hands. A total of 7 stocks declined and 7 rose.
The all Jamaica Composite Index lost 494.55 points to 169,495.34, the JSE Market Index dropped 442.53 points to 152,599.95, the JSE combined index fell 265.47 points to 161,794.08 but the junior market index fell 16.80 points to 1,982.33.
The big movement has been the up and down movement of Caribbean Cement that fell again by $3.45 to $19.55 with 120,000 shares trading Carreras with 397,183 shares at $64.99 and Desnoes and Geddes 43,100 units at $22.80.
Majors in moderate fall – Wednesday
NCB hand another big day of trading on Wednesday following high volumes on the prior 2 days.
The JSE Market Index lost 144.01 points to 153,042.48 the all Jamaica Composite Index dropped 160.95 points to end at 169,989.89 and the JSE combined index shed 569.64 points to close at 162,059.55.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading was 9 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.At the end of the market activities, Berger Paints lost 10 cents while trading 3,450 shares at $4, Cable & Wireless closed at $1.40 with 552,033 units, Caribbean Cement jumped $3 to end at $23 with 218,612 shares trading. Carreras climbed $1 to close at $65, while trading 2,930 units, gleaner traded at $2 with 20,000 shares changing hands, Grace Kennedy gained 50 cents with 6,044 shares trading to close at $83.50, Jamaica Broilers gained 5 cents after trading 223,919 units to close at $14.55, Jamaica Producers traded 1,200 shares but lost $2 to close at $33. Jamaica Stock Exchange traded 5,000 shares to end with a loss of $1.90 at $21, JMMB Group had 16,994 units changing hands but lost 13 cents in closing at $10.39, Kingston Wharves had 101,153 shares trading with a rise of 1 cent at $11.36,
National Commercial Bank had 1,262,910 shares changing hands at $41 at the close. 138 Student Living traded 20,000 shares and gained 13 cents to end at $5.80, Pulse dropped $1.52 to cl6se at $2.40 with 22,294 units changing hands, Sagicor Group fell 50 cents with 274,371 shares changing hands at $23, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 114,030 shares but the price declined 50 cents to $11. Scotia Group had only 3,821 shares changing hands to close with a gain of 50 cents at $30.50. Scotia Investments rose $1.50 with 7,000 units changing hands at $28, Supreme Ventures closed at $4.99 with 23,260 units changing hands after shedding 10 cents, Proven Investments rose 2 US cents to end at 22 US cents with 530,000 units trading.
6 TTSE stocks dropped on Wednesday
FirstCaribbean traded at a new 52 weeks’ high on Wednesday
A sharp 8.3 percent rise in the price of Firstcaribbean International Bank, resulted in the market indices being mixed at the close, with the Composite Index rising 5.38 points to close at 1,168.55, the All T&T Index dropping 2.17 points to close at 1,883.21 and the Cross Listed Index advancing by 1.78 points to close at 60.22.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator has turned negative with 5 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 9 with offers that were lower.
Gains| Firstcaribbean International Bank was the only stock recording a positive price movement with the price rising 50 cents to close at $6.50 with 38,005 units changing hands.
Losses| JMMB Group fell 2 cents and closed with 380,929 shares changing hands at 58 cents, Massy Holdings closed with only 828 shares trading a with a loss of 10 cents at $57.84 for a new 52 weeks’ low, National Commercial Bank had 111,120 shares changing hands to close with a loss of 5 cents at $2.40.
Scotiabank closed with 523 shares changing hands after falling 1 cent, to end at $59.74, Trinidad and Tobago NGL lost 66 cents in trading a mere 13,925 shares to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $18.25 and Trinidad Cement traded 1,000 shares but fell 5 cents to $3.70.Firm Trades| Clico Investments traded 607 shares to close at $22.52, Republic Financial Holdings closed at $112.18 with 5,512 shares changing hands and Unilever Caribbean traded 440 shares trading at $66.
TTSE stocks slip again on Tuesday
Trading activity ended on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Tuesday with 330,345 shares valued at $5,414,285 changing hands. All three market indices declined, continuing a negative trend, in evidence for 2016. The market ended with 15 active securities of which, 4 rose, 4 fell and 7 remained unchanged. One stock ended at 52 weeks’ low at the close.
The Composite Index lost 2.79 points to close at 1,163.17, the All T&T Index dropped 5.49 points to close at 1,885.38 and the Cross Listed Index declined 0.01 points to close at 58.44.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator has turned negative with 5 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 8 with offers that were lower.
Gains|Clico Investments traded 199,522 shares valued at $4,492,875 to close 1 cent higher at $22.52, Guardian Holdings rose 4 cents with 36,036 shares valued at $493,676 changing hands to end at $13.70. Scotiabank closed with 100 shares changing hands with a 1 cent rise, to end at $59.75 and West Indian Tobacco traded 1,547 shares to close at $126.28 after rising 3 cents.
Losses| Massy holdings closed with only 50 shares trading a with a loss of 4 cents at $57.94 for a new 52 weeks’ low, National Enterprises closed with just 10 shares changing hands at $13.99 after dropping 46 cents, to close at a 52 weeks’ low. Sagicor Financial Corporation closed with 2,000 shares changing hands with a loss of 1 cent at $6.99 and Trinidad and Tobago NGL lost 3 cents in trading a mere 10 shares to close at $18.91.
Firm Trades| Ansa Merchant Bank contributed 490 shares in closing at $38.95, First Citizens traded 10 shares at $34.99, JMMB Group closed with 21,798 shares changing hands at 60 cents, Guardian Media ended trading with 1,365 shares changing hands at $19.75. National Commercial Bank had 5,238 shares changing hands to close at $2.45, Republic Financial Holdings closed at $112.18 with 170 shares changing hands and Scotia Investments closed at $1.90 while trading 62,000 shares.
