Market activity picked up on Tuesday on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange, with 156 percent more stocks trading valued 63 percent more than on Monday, resulting from trading in 18 securities compared with 19 on Monday, with prices of five rising, six declining and seven remaining unchanged.
Investors exchanged 1,400,887 shares for $8,927,824, up from 546,993 stock units at $5,480,710 on Monday. An average of 77,827 units were traded at $495,990 compared with 28,789 shares at $288,458 on Monday, with trading month to date averaging 51,996 shares at $458,520 up from 50,570 units at $456,468 on the previous day. The average trade for January amounts to 28,440 at $235,404.
The Composite Index fell 2.33 points to 1,325.48, the All T&T Index advanced 2.35 points to 1,999.50, the SME Index remained at 61.52 and the Cross-Listed Index dropped 1.03 points to 84.58.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows six stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and one stock with a lower offer.
At the close, Agostini’s climbed $1.98, ending at a 52 weeks’ high of $59.99, trading 3,504 shares, Ansa Merchant Bank ended at $45 while trading 30 stock units, Endeavour Holdings remained at $11 in an exchange of 581 units. First Citizens Group 13,628 stocks at $50.10, FirstCaribbean International Bank shed 28 cents in closing at $6.22 with the swapping of 20 units. GraceKennedy dropped 2 cents to end at $4.40 after 1,629 shares crossed the market. JMMB Group remained at $1.80, with 596 stock units passing through the exchange, L.J. Williams B share lost 17 cents in ending at $2.55 after an exchange of 785 stocks, Massy Holdings rose 25 cents in closing at $4.95 after a transfer of 1,226,081 stock units. National Enterprises remained at $3.90 with 33,446 shares changing hands, NCB Financial fell 5 cents in closing at $4.05 while trading 92,769 stocks, Point Lisas dipped 2 cents to end at $3.58 with investors transferring 318 units.
Prestige Holdings ended at $6.90 as investors exchanged 825 stocks, Republic Financial declined $1.50 to $137 with a transfer of 7,193 units, Scotiabank increased 7 cents in ending at $78.20 and closed with an exchange of 8,217 stock units. Trinidad & Tobago NGL remained at $21 in an exchange of 567 shares, Unilever Caribbean popped 10 cents in closing at $14.10 in trading 10,195 units and West Indian Tobacco advanced 25 cents to close at $19.90 in switching ownership of 503 stock units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Trading picks up on the Trinidad Exchange
Trading drops on JSE USD Market
Only two securities were traded in the ordinary shares section of the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market on Monday, leading to a 90 percent fall in the volume of stocks changing hands even as the value traded jumped 210 percent over that on Friday, resulting in the trading of seven securities, similar to Friday, with three rising, one declining and three unchanged.
A total of 32,455 shares were traded for US$13,457 compared with 318,483 units at US$4,336 on Friday.
Trading averaged 4,636 units at US$1,922 compared with 45,498 shares at US$619 on Friday, with a month to date average of 40,468 shares at US$2,015 compared with 42,593 units at US$2,021 on the previous trading day. January trading averaged 48,604 units for US$4,865.
The JSE USD Equities Index lost 0.92 points to end at 247.79.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 9.7. The PE ratio uses ICInsider.com earnings forecasts for companies with financial years ending between November 2022 and August 2023.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows two stocks ended with bids higher than the last selling prices and two with lower offers.
At the close, Sygnus Credit Investments USD share popped 0.4 cents to 10 US cents with an exchange of 170 shares and Transjamaican Highway dipped 0.04 of a cent in closing at 0.9 of one US cent in trading 26,571 stock units.
In the preference segment, Productive Business 9.25% preference share increased 10 cents to close at US$12.10, with 223 units crossing the market, Eppley 6% ended at US$1.15 with one stock unit changing hands, Equityline Mortgage Investment preference share remained at US$1.64 in switching ownership of one stock unit, JMMB Group 5.75% remained at US$2 after finishing with 5,000 shares trading and JMMB Group 6% rallied 0.03 of a cent in closing at US$1.07 as investors exchanged 489 stocks.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
JSE Main Market falters to start the week
Stocks suffered losses in trading closed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market on Monday following a 39 percent decline in the volume passing through the exchange and the value 67 percent less than in trading on Friday and ended with trading in 57 securities up from 55 on Friday, resulting in prices of 20 rising, 22 declining and 15 unchanged.
A total of 5,884,158 shares were exchanged for $75,612,128, down from 9,589,463 units at $231,326,583 on Friday.
Trading averaged 103,231 shares at $1,326,529 compared with 174,354 shares at $4,205,938 on Friday and month to date, an average of 179,166 units at $2,201,830 compared to 183,732 units at $2,254,459 on the previous day. January closed with an average of 205,236 stock units at $1,805,558.
Wigton Windfarm led trading with 1.79 million shares for 30.4 percent of the volume traded, Transjamaican Highway followed with 985,284 units for 16.7 percent of the day’s trade and Sagicor Select Financial Fund with 448,665 units for 7.6 percent market share. The All Jamaican Composite Index suffered a significant loss of 4,790.29 points to finish at 372,687.17, the JSE Main Index declined by a more moderate 2,606.82 points to 330,714.66 and the JSE Financial Index slipped 0.38 points to settle at 78.25.
The PE Ratio, a formula to ascertain appropriate stock values, averages 14 for the Main Market. The JSE Main and USD Market PE ratios incorporate earnings forecasted by ICInsider.com for companies with the financial year ending between November 2022 and August 2023.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 12 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close, Eppley advanced $2.51 to $40 after trading 447 shares, First Rock Real Estate rose $1.55 to $11.65 with a transfer of 220,567 stock units, GraceKennedy fell $1.55 to $77.20 after exchanging 148,988 units. Guardian Holdings climbed $19.99 in closing at $519.99 as investors swapped just 18 stocks, Jamaica Broilers rallied $2 to $35 in trading 12,001 stocks, Jamaica Producers popped $1.03 to close at $22.28 with 22,572 stock units changing hands. 
Massy Holdings gained 90 cents to settle at $79.90 in switching ownership of 23,305 units, NCB Financial shed $1.05 to end at $76.95 in trading 4,205 shares, 138 Student Living popped 69 cents to $5.70 after exchanging 2,000 stock units. Palace Amusement rose $1.45 to $5.95 after 211 stocks passed through the market, following the 600 to 1 stock split taking effect on the market, Proven Investments declined $2 to $27 after a transfer of 26,749 units, Seprod dipped $3.98 to close at $62 after swapping of 371,770 shares and Sygnus Real Estate Finance fell 80 cents to $9.20 after trading 553 stock units.
In the preference segment, Productive Business 10.50% preference share climbed $50 to end at $1,200 with the swapping of 59 units, JMMB Group 7% preference share lost 42 cents 
in closing at $2.39 in switching ownership of 93 shares and 138 Student Living preference share declined $11.55 to $65.45with 20 stocks clearing the market.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Trading drops on Junior Market
Stocks traded on Monday with rising stocks edging out declining ones on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, with the volume falling 72 percent and the value dropping 73 percent compared with Friday that included the block of 26 million Fosrich shares that were traded as the market closed with trading in 42 securities, down from 48 on Friday and ended with 17 rising, 16 declining and 9 closing unchanged.
A total of 9,033,630 shares were traded for $24,644,140, down from 32,804,091 units at $91,381,630 on Friday.
Trading averaged 215,086 shares at $586,765 compared to 683,419 units at $1,903,784 on Friday, with the month to date averaging 316,508 units at $771,164 versus 322,180 stock units at $781,477 on the previous trading day. January closed with an average of 239,755 units at $646,375.
Fosrich led trading with 3.40 million shares for 37.6 percent of total volume followed by Regency Petroleum with 1.12 million units for 12.4 percent of the day’s trade and MFS Capital Partners with 767,223 units for 8.5 percent market share.
At the close, the Junior Market Index popped 8.41 points to settle at 3,809.87.
The PE Ratio, a measure used to compute appropriate stock values, averages 11.6. The PE ratios of Junior Market stocks are computed using the last traded stock price in conjunction with ICInsider.com’s projected earnings for the financial years ending between November 2022 and August 2023.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows six stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close, Access Financial advanced $1 to $23 as investors exchanged 2,637 shares, Blue Power dipped 15 cents to $2.28 with a transfer of 442 units, Caribbean Cream popped 20 cents to close at $3.50 with an exchange of 5,800 stocks. Dolphin Cove dipped 10 cents to $15.20 with 740 stock units changing hands, 
Elite Diagnostic gained 26 cents to settle at $2.71 after 27,851 units passed through the market, Fosrich rose 10 cents to $3.09 as investors traded 3,395,464 stocks. General Accident shed 38 cents to end at $4.61 with a transfer of 6,100 shares, Honey Bun gained 27 cents to finish at $7.37 in exchanging 878 stock units, iCreate lost 8 cents to close at $1.71 in switching ownership of 66,005 stocks. Indies Pharma rallied 11 cents in closing at $2.90 with the swapping of 20,635 units, JFP Ltd gained 12 cents to close at $1.72 in an exchange of 554,074 stock units, Knutsford Express declined $1 to $10.10 in trading just 505 shares. Lasco Distributors popped 10 cents in ending at $2.70 with an exchange of 216,724 stock units, Lasco Financial lost 29 cents in closing at $2.46 with investors transferring 95,902 stocks, Main Event advanced $1.04 to $11.84 with 1,558 shares changing hands. 
Regency Petroleum gained 24 cents in ending at a record $2.19 after 1,116,676 units passed through the market, Stationery and Office Supplies dipped 30 cents to end at $13.70 in switching ownership of 1,093 stocks and Tropical Battery lost 8 cents in closing at $2.22 while trading 132,449 stock units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Gains for Trinidad stocks
Stocks mostly gained on Monday after a mild increase in the volume of stocks traded on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange, with the value being 35 percent more than on Friday and resulting in 19 securities changing hands compared with 20 on Friday, with seven stocks rising, one declining and 11 remaining unchanged.
Investors traded 546,993 shares at $5,480,710 compared with 523,071 units at $4,056,217 on Friday.
An average of 28,789 shares were exchanged at $288,458 up from 26,154 units at $202,811 on Friday Trading month to date averages 50,570 shares at $456,473 down from 51,918 units at $466,871 on the previous day. The average trade for January was 28,440 at $235,404.
The Composite Index popped 7.28 points to 1,327.81, the All T&T Index rallied 5.35 points to 1,997.15, the SME Index remained at 61.52 and the Cross-Listed Index popped 1.31 points to 85.61.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
At the close, Agostini’s remained at $58.01 trading 2,016 shares, Ansa McAl popped 25 cents in ending at $50.75 after an exchange of 350 stock units, Calypso Macro Investment Fund ended at $21.50, with 496 units changing hands. First Citizens Group remained at $50.10, with 6,036 stocks clearing the market, FirstCaribbean International Bank ended at $6.50 as 1,530 units passed through the market, GraceKennedy remained at $4.42 after ten stocks were traded. 
Guardian Holdings shed 48 cents to end at $25.52 with a transfer of 157 shares, JMMB Group ended at $1.80, with 12,500 stock units crossing the market, L.J. Williams B share remained at $2.72 while exchanging ten stocks. Massy Holdings rallied 5 cents to $4.70 after an exchange of 476,878 shares, NCB Financial increased by 10 cents in closing at $4.10, with 14,926 units crossing the market, One Caribbean Media rose 2 cents to $3.28 after an exchange of 1,500 stock units. Point Lisas ended at $3.60 with ten stock units changing hands, Republic Financial ended at $138.50 as investors exchanged 16,273 units, Scotiabank gained 3 cents after ending at $78.13 with the swapping of 3,360 shares. Trinidad & Tobago NGL advanced 14 cents to close at $21 with an exchange of 3,990 stocks, Trinidad Cement remained at $3.52 after a transfer of 1,150 shares, Unilever Caribbean remained at $14 in an exchange of 1,325 stock units and West Indian Tobacco climbed 4 cents to $19.65 in switching ownership of 4,476 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Q3 profit jumps 40% at Medical Disposables
Profit after tax for the nine months to December last year fell 10.7 percent to $68 million at Medical Disposables, compared with $76 million in 2021. For the quarter, it rose from $37 million to $38. Profit after tax attributable to the company’s shareholders ended 2022 with $58 million, down 10.7 percent from $65 million in the previous year. For the quarter, it climbed 40 percent to $28 million after minority interest compared with $20 million in 2021.
Improved profit margins played a pivotal role in the company’s fortunes in the December quarter, with gross profit margin increasing from 26.8 percent in 2021 to 29 percent in 2022, helping to propel it to the most profitable quarter for the nine months of operations in 2022. Gross Profit margin for the nine months in 2022 increased to 27.26 percent from 25.85 percent in 2021.
Gross profit hit $273 million from sales of $941 million, up from $250 million from sales of $930 million in the second quarter to June. Gross profit for the December quarter improved by 16.6 percent or $39 million compared to the 2021 third quarter.
Sales for the third quarter grew by $66 million or 7.5 percent over the third quarter in 2021, moving from $875 million in the 2021 December quarter, driven by increased demand for pharmaceutical and consumer items, the report stated.
Sales increased by 10.8 percent or $270 million for the nine months to December 2022, to $2.76 billion from $2.49 billion in 2021 and delivered a 16.9 percent improvement in gross profit of $108 million to $753 million from $645 million in 2021.
Selling and administrative cost dipped in the December quarter, compared with the September quarter, to $78 million versus $83 million, while selling and distribution cost rose just $2 million to $114 million. Finance cost spoiled the party, jumping to $31 million from $28.5 million and “was due mainly to an overall upward adjustment in financing, particularly working capital. The increased usage of the working capital lines of credit was deemed necessary to hold greater levels of inventory in an effort to mitigate against any additional supply chain risks that could lead to further out-of-stock instances,” management stated in their report accompanying the Financials.
Medical Disposables traded at a new all-time high of $10.
“Out of stock issues continue to affect the Group’s profitability as suppliers are faced with global supply chain challenges within their operations. The availability of key speciality products such as vaccines and oncology medicines has become infrequent and inconsistent. Our internal estimates have tracked over $100 million in lost sales due to the shortages,” the company stated. That would translate to close to $30 million more in pretax profit.
The operations generated cash inflows of $109 million for the nine months, but working capital needs consumed it all as inventory rose sharply.
At the end of December, inventories increased by $360 million to $1.53 billion, up from $1.17 billion in December 2021. Receivables declined to $603 million at the end of December 2022 from $708 million at the end of 2021. Cash and bank balances rose to $128 from $72 million at the end of 2021. Loans due to lenders amount to $1.14 billion, up from $965 million at the end of 2021 and is just a bit less than shareholders’ equity, that stood at $1.17 billion compared with $1.07 billion at the end of 2021.
The profit for the nine months resulted in earnings per share of 11 cents for the quarter and 22 cents for the nine months.
The company’s focus is on organic growth and expansion from acquisitions where possible, in furtherance of this goal, management is placing a great deal of emphasis on staff retention and recruiting talented personnel to enhance its pool of above average talents. The initial impact will be increased staff costs that will be above the increased revenues, but that will pay good dividends in future years.
ICInsider.com projects earnings of 45 cents for the year and $1 for the fiscal year ending March 2024. At the last traded price of $4.85, the stock trades at 11 times this year’s earnings and five times that of 2024, suggesting much upside potential for the stock price, with the market average PE ratio now around 13 and with several priced above 15 times earnings.
Elite out Tropical back in ICTOP10
The Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed the past week with gains in the indices. Still, the Junior Market suffered a significant loss on Friday to close the week with a loss following a sizable fall in the price of Fosrich. This most heavily weighted Junior Market stock fell from an average price of $3.20 at the previous week’s close down to $2.63.
ICTOP10 has only one new addition this week, in the Junior Market TOP10 and none in the Main Market, following major volatility in price movements in the listings.
In closing out the week, Iron Rock Insurance led stocks rising, with a gain of 13 percent to $2.30, followed by General Accident, that rose 6 percent to $4.99, while Main Event put on 4 percent to land at $10.80. Elite Diagnostic fell 21 percent to $2.45 as demand vanished for the stock following release of poor second quarter results. Paramount Trading fell 9 per cent to $2, Image Plus and Lasco Distributors dipped 5 percent to $1.90 and $2.60, respectively.
Five stocks rose in the Main MarketTOP10, with the price of Key Insurance rising 7 percent to $3.20, Sygnus Credit Investments rose 5 percent to $12.57, while 138 Student Living and Scotia Group popped 4 percent higher to $5.01 and $34.20, respectively. Berger Paints dropped 8 percent to $9.25, Caribbean Producers, Guardian Holdings and Jamaica Broilers lost 3 percent.
Earnings per share for Elite Diagnostic was revised down to 28 cents per share for the current year, following a small loss of $7 million in the December quarter, even as revenues rose a solid 20 percent or $30 million over the same quarter in 2021, resulting in the stock dropping out of the ICTOP10, to be replaced by Tropical Battery that is returning after a short absence.
At the end of the week, the average PE for the JSE Main Market TOP 10 is 5.4, well below the market average of 13.7, while the Junior Market Top 10 PE sits at 6.5 compared with the market at 11.6. The differences are important indicators of the level of the undervaluation of the ICTOP10 stocks. The Junior Market is projected to rise by 213 percent and the Main Market TOP10 by an average of 288 percent to May this year, assuming the market gets back to last year’s valuation. The primary concern for the Main Market achieving such gains by May is that the list is dominated by financial companies that are out of favour and may need to get to the summer months before the full interest of investors is visible.
The Junior Market has 13 stocks representing 27 percent of the market, with PEs from 15 to 27 averaging 19 compared with the above average of the market. The top half of the market has an average PE of 17. The above average shows the extent of potential gains for the TOP 10 stocks.
The situation in the Main Market is similar, with the 17 highest valued stocks priced at a PE of 15 to 109, with an average of 32 and 23 excluding the highest valued stocks and 21 for the top half excluding the highest valued stocks.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners, accordingly, the list includes some of the best companies in the market but not always. ICInsider.com ranks stocks based on projected earnings, allowing investors to focus on the most undervalued stocks and helping to remove emotions in selecting stocks for investments that often result in costly mistakes.
IC TOP10 stocks will likely deliver the best returns up to the end of May 2023 and are ranked in order of potential gains, computed using projected earnings for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate, resulting in weekly movements in and out of the lists. Revisions to earnings are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.
Trading jumps on JSE Main Market
Trading activity picked up sharply on the Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market on Friday with the volume of stocks traded rising 39 percent and the value 79 percent greater than on Thursday, with 55 securities trading up from 52 on Thursday, leading to prices of 21 rising, 19 declining and 15 ending unchanged.
A total of 9,589,463 shares were traded for $231,326,583 up from 6,903,600 units at $128,999,772 on Thursday.
Trading averaged 174,354 units at $4,205,938 versus 132,762 shares at $2,480,765 on Thursday and for the month to date, an average of 183,732 units at $2,254,461 compared with 184,309 units at $2,134,270 on the previous day. January closed with an average of 205,236 units at $1,805,558.
Wigton Windfarm led trading with 3.38 million shares for 35.2 percent of total volume followed by Massy Holdings with 1.89 million units for 19.7 percent of the day’s trade and Jamaica Producers with 700,848 units for 7.3 percent market share.
The All Jamaican Composite Index rallied 3,396.57 points to 377,477.46, the JSE Main Market Index climbed 2,289.80 points to 333,321.48 and the JSE Financial Index advanced 0.23 points to 78.63.
The PE Ratio, a formula to ascertain appropriate stock values, averages 13.7 for the Main Market. The JSE Main and USD Market PE ratios incorporate earnings forecasted by ICInsider.com for companies with the financial year ending between November 2022 and August 2023.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 11 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close, Barita Investments shed 79 cents in closing at $80.71 with an exchange of 6,755 shares, Berger Paints dipped 65 cents to $9.25 in transferring 1,685 stock units, Caribbean Cement popped $1.01 in ending at $61 with swapping of 9,990 units. Eppley Caribbean Property Fund climbed $9 to end at $46 after a mere three stocks passed through the market, First Rock Real Estate shed 90 cents to close at $10.10 after an exchange of 5,649 stock units, 
GraceKennedy rose $1.55 to $78.75 with a transfer of 37,607 shares. Jamaica Broilers declined $1.96 to close at $33 with investors trading 642,278 stocks, JMMB Group fell $1.87 in closing at $31 in an exchange of 450,035 units, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy rallied $7.01 to end at $69.01 with 200 stocks changing hands. Palace Amusement dropped $45 to $2,655 with the swapping of 894 shares, ahead of a stock split to take effect at the start of trading on Monday, PanJam Investment lost 50 cents to close at $56.60 with 2,045 units changing hands, Scotia Group advanced $1.94 to $34.20 after trading 177,491 stock units. Seprod rose $3.98 in closing at $65.98 after 2,579 stocks passed through the market, 
Supreme Ventures shed 96 cents to close at $25.04 in switching ownership of 41,444 units and Wisynco Group gained 79 cents to end at $17.40 as investors traded 14,900 stock units.
In the preference segment, Eppley 5% preference share declined $3.33 in closing at $19.61 after a transfer of 96 shares, Eppley 7.25% preference share advanced $4 tot $22 in exchanging 48 stocks and Jamaica Public Service 7% rallied $2.26 to a record high of $17.26 with an exchange of 1,000 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Fosrich dominated Junior market trading
Fosrich dominated trading on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange Friday with more than 26 million shares changing hands and played a major role in the market dropping 60 points after it opened up above 3,900 points in the morning session. Information gleaned is that Stocks and Securities offloaded 22 million units at around $2.60. 
The block of Fosrich shares pushed up the volume of stocks traded by 262 percent and the value 254 per cent more than on Thursday, with 48 securities trading up from 45 on Thursday and ended with prices of 17 stocks rising, 19 declining and 12 unchanged.
A total of 32,804,091 shares were exchanged for $91,381,630 up from 9,069,058 units at $25,793,774 on Thursday.
Trading averaged 683,419 shares at $1,903,784 up from 201,535 units at $573,195 on Thursday with the month to date averaging 322,180 units at $781,477 versus 297,515 stock units at $704,847 on the previous day. January closed with an average of 239,755 units at $646,375.
Fosrich led trading with 26.09 million shares for 79.5 percent of total volume followed by Lasco Financial with 995,363 units for 3 percent of the day’s trade and Dolla Financial with 754,563 units for 2.3 percent market share.
At the close, the Junior Market Index fell 60.43 points to 3,801.46.
The PE Ratio, a measure of computing appropriate stock values, averages 11.6. The PE ratios of Junior Market stocks are based on the last traded stock price in conjunction with ICInsider.com’s projected earnings for the financial years ending between November 2022 and August 2023.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows eight stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close, Access Financial lost 90 cents in closing at $22 with a transfer of 3,332 shares, AMG Packaging popped 20 cents to $2.70 in trading 38,207 stock units, Blue Power rallied 15 cents to $2.43 in switching ownership of 2,160 stocks. Cargo Handlers declined $1.68 to $13.27 with an exchange of 6,951 units, Caribbean Cream shed 19 cents to close at $3.30 after transferring a mere 400 stocks, 
Consolidated Bakeries dipped 29 cents to close at $2.20 after trading 1,540 stock units. EduFocal lost 8 cents to end at $2.12 with 332,545 units changing hands, Elite Diagnostic shed 65 cents to a 52 weeks’ low of $2.45 with investors swapping 67,561 shares, Fontana fell 16 cents to end at $8.63 with an exchange of 16,122 shares. Fosrich lost 11 cents in closing at $2.99 with the swapping of 26,088,566 stock units, with the price hitting an intraday 52 weeks’ low of $2.50, Future Energy Source dipped 17 cents to $4.53 with 678,920 units changing hands, GWest Corporation gained 10 cents in ending at $1.02 in transferring 186 stocks. Honey Bun declined 32 cents to end at $7.10 trading 11,435 units, Indies Pharma advanced 19 cents to $2.79 in switching ownership of 615,619 shares, ISP Finance dropped $7.45 to settle at $20.49 after an exchange of 3,200 stock units. Knutsford Express rose 30 cents to end at $11.10, with 503,687 stocks clearing the market, Lasco Financial gained 30 cents to close at $2.75 as investors exchanged 995,363 stock units, 
Limners and Bards shed 20 cents in closing at $2.50 in an exchange of 2,700 shares. Lumber Depot popped 8 cents to end at $2.27 after a transfer of 18,960 stocks, Mailpac Group rallied 15 cents to $2.05 with the swapping of 86,536 units, MFS Capital Partners lost 13 cents to close at $3.78 trading 389,770 shares and Stationery and Office Supplies fell 90 cents to $14 after 23,543 units passed through the market.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Trading rises on JSE USD Market but prices slip
Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market ended on Friday, with the volume of stocks changing hands rising 1,962 percent and valued 206 percent higher than on Thursday and resulted in seven securities trading, compared to seven on Thursday with none rising, two declining and five ending unchanged.
Overall, 318,483 shares were traded for US$4,336 compared to 15,447 units at US$1,416 on Thursday.
Trading averaged 45,498 shares at US$619 compared with 2,207 stocks at US$202 on Thursday, with a month to date average of 42,593 shares at US$2,021 compared to 42,410 units at US$2,109 on the previous day. January ended with an average of 48,604 units for US$4,865.
The JSE USD Equities Index lost 0.65 points to close at 248.71.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 9.8. The PE ratio uses ICInsider.com earnings forecasts for companies with financial years ending between November 2022 and August 2023.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows four stocks ending with bids higher than the last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close, Margaritaville remained at 12.5 US cents while trading 8,228 shares, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy ended at 58 US cents, with 400 units crossing the market, 
Proven Investments remained at 19 US cents with 15 stocks clearing the exchange. Sterling Investments lost 0.11 of a cent in ending at 1.89 US cents in an exchange of 5,400 stock units, Sygnus Real Estate Finance USD share dipped 0.1 of a cent in closing at 8.4 US cents with a transfer of 1,850 stock units and Transjamaican Highway ended at 0.94 of one US cent, with 302,588 units changing hands.
In the preference segment, Eppley 6% preference share remained at US$1.15 in switching ownership of 2 shares.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
