Unlike Wednesday when trading was slow, market activity has picked up by driving the main market indices up by almost 1 percent 30 securities changed hands after 90 minutes of trading with a volume of 5,532,901 units as 13 stocks gained and 8 declined.
At 11 am, the all Jamaica Composite Index is jumped 1,451.46 points to 157,145.64, the JSE Market Index gained 1298.78 points to 141,549.32 the JSE combined index fell 1248.35 points to be at 147,861.31 and the junior market index rose 2.47 points to 1,592.19.
Interesting trades, with 75 minutes having elapsed, are Cable & Wireless with 508,750 units and last traded at $1.50 for a 2 cents fall from Wednesday’s last traded price, Jamaica Broilers with 241,027shares at $8.50, Mayberry Investments with 239,400 units at $4.70, National Commercial Bank traded 1,454,773 shares at $37.50, Scotia Group with 109,384 at $27.50, Supreme Ventures with 787,628 units at $5, Caribbean Producers having 327,996 shares trading at $5.60, Lasco Financial Services with 426,961 units at $3 and Lasco Manufacturing having 380,419 units at $3.22.
JSE making strong gains on Thursday
3 stocks trade at new highs – Wednesday
NCB closed at a new 52 weeks’ high on the TTSE on Wednesday
At the close, the Composite Index ended with a rise of 2.26 points at 1,162.60 the All T&T Index rose 0.21 points to 1,957.84 and the Cross Listed Index gained 0.59 points to 48.31.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 2 stocks with bids higher than the last selling prices and 5 stocks with offers that were lower.
Gains| Clico Investment Fund posted 46,930 shares valued at $1,064,841 and closed with a gain of 1 cent at $22.69, National Commercial Bank gained 10 cents with 1,961 shares changing hands to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $2, Sagicor Financial Corporation closed with 7,445 shares changing hands at $6.11 for a gain of 5 cents.
Trinidad and Tobago NGL gained 5 cents in trading 98,948 shares valued at $2,130,116, to close at $21.55 and West Indian Tobacco ended with a gain of 2 cents at a 52 weeks’ high of $126.17 having traded 16,668 units worth $2,102,990.Declines| Trinidad Cement ended at $4.74 after declining by 1 cent with 286,000 units having a value of $1,358,290 changing hands.
Firm Trades| First Citizens Bank traded 39 shares to close at $35, Guardian Holdings closed with 2,200 units trading at $12.92 and Republic Bank ended with just 5 shares changing hands at $112.99.
Jamaican $ slips vs. US – Wednesday
The Jamaican dollar lost value against the US and Canadian dollars, but made modest gains on the Pound on Wednesday. Funds purchased by dealers were much less than the amount sold by US$8 million. The equivalent of US$29,557,919 was purchased and the equivalent of US$37,613,356 was sold, compared with US$30,303,656 they purchased and US$40,066,275 sold on Tuesday.
In US dollar trading , dealers bought US$25,882,409 compared to US$26,764,918 on Tuesday. The buying rate for the US dollar gained 1 cent to $119.27 and US$35,819,736 was sold versus US$37,677,186 on Tuesday, the selling rate rose 5 cents to $119.96. 
The Canadian dollar buying rate rose 2 cents to end at $86.90 with dealers buying C$1,189,875 and selling C$1,293,626, at an average rate that jumped $1.30 to $89.59. The rate for buying the British Pound jumped $1.82 to $178.18 for the purchase of £1,821,912, while £494,520 was sold, with the rate falling 51 cents to $178.72. At the end of trading, it took J$127.20 to purchase the Euro, a rise of 53 cents from Tuesday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$124.61 for a rise of 56 cents from Tuesday’s rate. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded, amounts to US$86,949 being bought, while US$90,845 was sold.
Highs & Lows| On Wednesday, the highest buying rate for the US dollar rose 20 cents to $120.30 while the lowest buying and the highest selling 
rates were unchanged at $98.66 and $126.42 respectively and the lowest selling rate leapt $18.34 to $117. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell 36 cents to end at $90.47, the lowest buying rate held at $71.38, the highest selling rate inched down by 6 cents to $92.02 and the lowest selling rate remained at $85. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, dropped by $1.30 to end at $180.12. The lowest buying rate rose 41 cents to $145, the highest selling rate dipped $2.08 to $184.31 and the lowest selling rate rose 10 cents to $173.80.
Juniors slip again on Wednesday
Medical Disposables traded at new high on junior market on Wednesday.
At the close there was 2 securities ending with no bid to buy and 8 securities had no stocks being offered for sale. A total of 4 stocks closed with bids higher than the last traded prices and 3 closed with lower offers.
In trading, Access Financial Services ended with 13,000 shares changing hands at $13.61, to gain 4 cents. AMG Packaging rose 5 cents and ended with 14,983 units changing hands at $6.05, C2W traded 24,000 units at 37 cents, for a fall of 1 cent, Caribbean Flavours gained 2 cents while trading 76,500 units to end at a 52 weeks’ high at $6.80, Caribbean Producers lost 10 cents, in trading 561,890 units to end at $5.50. Consolidated Bakeries ended with 45,677 shares changing hands to settle at $1.23, Derrimon Trading ended with 1,420 shares changing hands and closed at $3.45, Dolphin Cove had 1,000 units trading to settle at $15.80, General Accident ended with 52,000 shares changing hands and closed with a loss of 4 cents at $1.95.
Jamaican Teas had 1,000 shares trading to close with a loss of 5 cents at $5, KLE Group ended with 1,974 units at 73 cents, Knutsford Express traded 3,000 units of $10, Lasco Distributors lost 3 cents and closed with 432,144 shares changing hands at $4.06. Lasco Financial ended with a gain of 8 cents to close at $3 with 295,033 shares changing hands, Lasco Manufacturing closed at $3.30 with 1,029,215 shares trading, Medical Disposables closed at a 52 weeks’ high of $3.55 with 10,000 shares trading as the price jumped by 55 cents and Eppley 2019 cumulative redeemable preference share ended with 134,984 units changing hands at $6.08.
J$ performed surprisingly well in November
The Jamaican dollar closed out November almost where it opened against the US dollar, but made modest gains on the Pound and the Canadian dollar. On the last day of October, dealers sold the US dollar for an average of J$119.83 but by the end of the month it was selling for only 10 cents more at J$119.93.
The local currency did even better against the British Pound and the Canadian dollar by gaining $2.43 on the Canadian to end J$88.15 and $2.77 versus the Pound to end at J$179.81. In the foreign exchange market on the first day of December, purchasing by dealers was much less than the funds they sold, with dealers buying nearly US$10 million less than they sold. The equivalent of US$30,303,656 was purchased and the equivalent of US$40,066,275 was sold, compared with US$44,621,458 they purchased and US$41,429,650 sold on Monday.
In US dollar trading , dealers bought US$26,764,918 compared to US$40,585,146 on Monday. The buying rate for the US dollar gained 1 cent to $119.26 and US$37,677,186 was sold versus US$39,341,893 on Monday, the selling rate fell 2 cents to $119.91. The Canadian dollar buying rate rose 7 cents to end at $86.88 with dealers buying C$1,576,598 and selling C$829,322, at an average rate that climbed 14 cents to $88.29 The rate for buying the British Pound declined 65 cents to $176.36 for the purchase of £1,502,604, while £1,029,169 was sold, with the rate falling 58 cents to $179.23. At the end of trading, it took J$126.67 to purchase the Euro, a fall of 43 cents from Monday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$124.05 for a decline of 61 cents from Monday’s rate. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded, amounts to US$168,137 being bought, while US$240,286 was sold.
Highs & Lows| On Tuesday, the highest buying rate for the US dollar fell 15 cents to $120.10 while the lowest buying and the highest
Juniors Index slips on Tuesday
Knutsford Express ended at a new all-time high of $10
The signs are pointing to prices heading mostly higher, with a tight supply of stocks being dominant in this market. At the close there was 1 security ending with no bid to buy and 7 securities had no stocks being offered for sale. A total of 5 stocks closed with bids higher than the last traded prices and none closed with a lower offer.
In trading, AMG Packaging ended with 23,528 units changing hands at $6, C2W Music traded 2,500 units at 38 cents, Caribbean Cream ended with 1,000 shares changing hands at $4.40, Caribbean Flavours gained 3 cents while trading 15,000 units to end at a 52 weeks’ high at $6.78, Caribbean Producers lost 30 cents, in trading 53,102 units to end at $5.60. Consolidated Bakeries ended with a loss of 7 cents while trading 10,000 shares to settle at $1.23, Dolphin Cove had 584 units trading with a loss of 20 cents, to settle at $15.80,
General Accident ended with 10,000 shares changing hands and closed at $1.99. Jamaican Teas had 3,671 shares trading to close of 5 cents with a gat $5.05, KLE Group ended with 73,026 units with a decline of 2 cents at 73 cents, Knutsford Express traded 13,000 units and gained $1 to end at a 52 weeks’ high of $10. Lasco Distributors closed with 125,457 shares changing hands, to end with a gain of 4 cents at $4.09, Lasco Financial ended at $2.92, with 38,200 shares changing hands after losing 3 cents and Lasco Manufacturing fell 38 cents to $3.30 with 450,146 shares trading.
3 stocks trade at new highs – Tuesday
National Flour trades at a 52 weeks’ high with a gain of 25 cents.
At the close, the Composite Index ending with a rise of 3.03 points at 1,160.34 the All T&T Index advanced by 2.51 points to 1,957.63 and the Cross Listed Index gained 0.49 points to 47.72.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 5 stocks with offers that were lower.
Gains| Guardian Holdings gained 1 cent in trading 1,300 units at $12.92, National Commercial Bank gained 5 cents in trading 22,331 shares at $1.90. National Flour ended with 50,349 shares changing hands at $2.75, after rising 25 cents to a 52 weeks’ high, Trinidad Cement ended at a new 52 weeks’ high of $4.75 after gaining 42 cents and Unilever Caribbean ended with 810 shares trading 2 cents up, for a new 52 weeks’ high of $68.17.
Declines| Angostura Holdings with 5,763 shares changing hands, closed with a loss of 1 cent at $13.99, Clico Investment Fund posted 59,044 shares valued at $1,339,490 and closed with a loss of 1 cent at $22.68.
Massy Holdings with 1,110 shares lost 1 cent in closing at $61.93 for a 52 weeks’ low and Trinidad and Tobago NGL slipped 20 cents in trading, to close at $21.50 with 126,068 shares valued at $2,714,920 units changing hands.Firm Trades| First Citizens Bank traded 250 shares to close at $35, National Enterprises with 300 shares changing hands at $16.39, Prestige Holdings with 3,825 units changing hands, ended at $10.10 and Sagicor Financial Corporation closed with 980 shares changing hands at $6.06.
NCB wakes up JSE
With the news that National Commercial Bank (NCB) will be buying 30 percent of Guardian Holdings’ shares, the Jamaica Stock Exchange came to life with the 3 main market indices all climbing, as NCB traded at $37.50 with 628,375 units to gain $1.75. NCB’s bid is at $37 to buy 10,000 units and the offer at $45, to sell only 2,250 shares. Trading on the junior market has been low keyed, with very small volumes so far.
Interesting trades, with 75 minutes having elapsed, are Cable & Wireless with 913,965 units and last traded at $1.54 for a 6 cents fall from Monday’s last traded price, Caribbean Cement trading at a new 52 weeks’ high of $19.50, Sagicor Group lost 24 cents in trading 486,055 units at $16.30.
At 10.45 am, the all Jamaica Composite Index is up 907.24 points to 156,515.85, the JSE Market Index gained 811.81 points to 140,985.78, the JSE combined index rose 802.67 points to be at 147,778.60 and the junior market index rose 4.06 points to 1,642.52.
In trading, 25 securities have changed hands with a volume of 2,684,406 units as 8 stocks gained and 7 declined.
J$ makes gains on Monday
On Monday, the Jamaican dollar mostly rose against the three major currencies it normally trades against, in the foreign exchange market. Purchasing by dealers was slightly more than the funds they sold. At the close of trading, dealers bought the equivalent of US$44,621,458 and sold the equivalent of US$41,429,650, compared with US$40,251,301 they purchased and US$39,350,916 sold on Friday.
In US dollar trading , dealers bought US$40,585,146 compared to US$36,593,430 on Friday. The buying rate for the US dollar fell 20 cents to $119.25 and US$39,341,893 was sold versus US$37,420,311 on Friday, the selling rate fell 4 cents to $119.93.
The Canadian dollar buying rate fell 55 cents to end at $86.81 with dealers buying C$1,993,998 and selling C$752,076, at an average rate that dropped 54 cents to $88.15. The rate for buying the British Pound declined $1.90 to $177.01 for the purchase of £1,658,881, while £513,635 was sold, with the rate rising 61 cents to $179.81. At the end of trading, it took J$127.10 to purchase the Euro, a fall of 26 cents from Friday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$124.66 for a rise of 25 cents from Friday’s rate. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded, amounts to US$122,185 being bought, while US$764,928 was sold. Highs & Lows| On Monday, the highest buying rate for the US dollar rose 15 cents to $120.25 
while the lowest buying and the highest selling rates were unchanged at $98.66 and $126.42 respectively and the lowest selling rate jumped $1.94 to $100.60. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell 40 cents to end at $89.60, the lowest buying rate rose 58 cents to $71.38, the highest selling rate dipped 15 cents to $92.02 and the lowest selling rate eased by 30 cents to $84.50. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, declined by 60 cents to end at $180.40. The lowest buying rate fell gained 17 cents to $144.59, the highest selling rate jumped $3.24 to $187.50 and the lowest selling rate fell $1 to $173.
Junior index up Monday but…
Caribbean Flavours’ produce with ingredients – the stock closed at a new high on Monday.
The signs are pointing to prices heading mostly higher, with a tight supply of stocks being dominant in this market. At the close, there was only 1 security ending with no bid to buy and 11 securities had no stocks being offered for sale. A total of 5 stocks closed with bids higher than the last traded prices and one closed with a lower offer.
In trading, C2W Music ended with 1,600 units changing hands at 38 cents, Caribbean Flavours gained 28 cents while trading 16,512 units to end at a 52 weeks’ high at $6.75, Caribbean Producers gained 10 cents, in trading 44,922 units to end at $5.80 for a 52 weeks’ closing high, Consolidated Bakeries ended trading with 30,192 shares at $1.30.
General Accident ended with 504,997 shares changing hands and closed at $1.99 after declining by 1 cent, KLE Group ended with 24,467 units with a gain of 5 cents at 75 cents, Knutsford Express traded 500 units at $9. Lasco Distributors closed with 622,630 shares changing hands, to end at $4.05, Lasco Financial ended at $2.95, with 76,650 shares changing hands after losing 5 cents. Lasco Manufacturing fell 3 cents to $3.68 with 163,003 shares trading and Derrimon Trading preference share ended with 400,000 units changing hands with a loss of 10 cents at $2.10.
