Main Market trading volume jumped 110 percent but the value in the five months to May over 20223, the more important measure of market interest climbed 49 percent to $17.14 billion. May saw trading dropping below that in April, with just 441 million units trading, valued at $2.85 billion from 865 million shares in April valued at $4.6 billion.
The volume of Main Market stocks traded in May was 55 percent more than in 2023 with the value rising by 67 percent. March was the only month when the value of stocks was lower than in 2023, even as the total volume traded was more than twice the 2023 volume.
Trading in the Junior Market and the JSE USD market fell compared with 2023. The Junior Market suffered an 18 percent fall in volume to 1.187 billion units, with a 47 percent fall in value to $2.65 billion following Lasco Distributors and Lasco Manufacturing migrating to the Main Market at the end of March, May’s trading was 82 percent more than that in 2023 with a 42 percent greater value. Even with switching the two Lasco companies to the Main market in March, trading in May this year exceeded all the months in 2023 from May onwards.
The US market saw a 68 percent fall in volume to 29.9 million units and a 53 percent drop in value to US$2.9 million
Low trading activity in Trinidad
Rising stocks edged out those declining at the close of the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange on Monday, in a low keyed trading session with the volume and value of of stocks traded marginally different than those traded on Friday resulting from 13 trading in securities as was the case as well on Friday and ending with prices of six rising, four declining and three ended firm and resulted in the main market indices rising.
The market closed with trading of 44,545 shares for $741,392 compared to 41,009 stock units at $775,444 on Friday.
An average of 3,427 shares were traded at $57,030 compared to 3,155 stock units at $59,650 on Friday, with trading month to date averaging 7,597 shares at $98,929 compared with 7,892 stock units at $101,889 on the previous day and an average for May of 15,629 shares at $129,694.
The Composite Index advanced 1.15 points to 1,126.15, the All T&T Index rallied 3.83 points to close at 1,683.47, the SME Index remained unchanged at 86.99 and the Cross-Listed Index declined 0.24 points to wrap up trading at 74.16.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows seven stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close, Ansa McAl slipped 50 cents to close at $62.50 after trading took place in 1,108 stocks, Ansa Merchant Bank ended at $41.50 with investors trading 35 units, First Citizens Group popped 20 cents to $42.20 after an exchange of 743 shares. FirstCaribbean International Bank fell 9 cents in closing at $6.81 with investors swapping 10,090 stock units, GraceKennedy popped 1 cent higher to finish at $3.56 with an exchange of 1,444 shares, JMMB Group gained 4 cents and ended at $1.25, with 26 units changing hands. Massy Holdings fell 10 cents to $4.06 with investors dealing in 12,000 stock units, 
National Enterprises rose 1 cent to close at $3.31 in an exchange of just 2 stock units, One Caribbean Media skidded 1 cent and ended at $3.67 with investors trading 12 shares. Republic Financial rose 99 cents in closing at $108.99 with 605 stock units changing hands, Scotiabank gained $1 and ended at $66 as investors exchanged 4,489 stocks, Unilever Caribbean ended at $11.15 with a transfer of 12,435 units and West Indian Tobacco ended at $10 after an exchange of 1,556 shares.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
No winners just losers on Trinidad Exchange
Scotiabank was the leading declining stocks on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange on Friday, with 13 securities trading, down sharply from 20 on Thursday and ending with none gaining, nine declining and four ended firm as trading ended with 30 percent fewer stocks changing hands with a 20 percent lower value than on Thursday .
The market closed with trading of 41,009 shares for $775,444 compared with 58,851 stock units at $974,667 on Thursday.
An average of 3,155 shares were traded at $59,650 compared to 2,943 units at $48,733 on Thursday, with trading for the month to date averaging 7,892 shares at $101,889 compared with 8,252 units at $105,101 on the previous day and an average for May of 15,629 shares at $129,694.
The Composite Index lost 5.19 points to close at 1,125.00, the All T&T Index sank 4.00 points to end trading at 1,679.64, the SME Index remained unchanged at 86.99 and the Cross-Listed Index dipped 0.90 points to finish at 74.40.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows five stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and five with lower offers.
At the close, Ansa Merchant Bank fell 50 cents to $41.50 and closed after 2,565 shares were traded, First Citizens Group declined 25 cents to $42 with investors trading 1,820 stocks, FirstCaribbean International Bank ended at $6.90 after investors ended up trading 81 shares. GraceKennedy shed 24 cents and ended at $3.55, with investors trading 2,490 stock units, JMMB Group dipped 7 cents to $1.21 after a transfer of 11,000 shares, L.J. Williams B share ended at $1.86 with traders dealing in 185 units. 
National Flour Mills slipped 1 cent to $2.15 after investors exchanged 600 units, Prestige Holdings ended the day at $13 with investors swapping 9,059 stocks, Republic Financial skidded 4 cents in closing at $108 with an exchange of 3,378 shares. Scotiabank lost 99 cents to end at $65, with 120 units clearing the market, Trinidad & Tobago NGL slipped 42 cents to $7 after an exchange of 7,248 units, Unilever Caribbean dipped 65 cents and ended at $11.15 with a transfer of 500 stocks and West Indian Tobacco remained at $10, with 1,963 shares crossing the exchange.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
All stocks fell on the JSE USD Market
All stocks declined on Thursday in trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market with four securities changing hands the same number as Wednesday and ended with the volume of stocks exchanged rising 502 percent, with an 11 percent lower value than on Wednesday.
The market closed with an exchange of 456,359 shares for US$13,103 compared to 75,761 units at US$14,761 on Wednesday.
Trading averaged 114,090 units at US$3,276 versus 18,940 shares at US$3,690 on Wednesday, with a month to date average of 47,993 shares at US$2,923 compared with 43,272 units at US$2,898 on the previous day and May that ended with an average of 32,077 units for US$3,201.
The US Denominated Equities Index fell 0.15 points to end at 219.86.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 7.9. The PE ratio is computed based on the last traded price divided by projected earnings done by ICInsider.com for companies with their financial year ending and or around August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
At the close of the market, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy dipped 3 cents to end at 61 US cents with investors swapping 102 stock units and Transjamaican Highway sank 0.09 of a cent to 2.01 US cents in an exchange of 454,099 shares.
In the preference segment, JMMB Group 5.75% skidded 30 cents to close at US$1.70 with 2,142 stocks changing hands and Productive Business Solutions 9.25% preference share fell 55 cents in closing at US$10.90 after an exchange of 16 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Gains for Trinidad Exchange
Stocks ended on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange on Thursday, with trading in 20 securities similar to Wednesday and closed with prices of nine rising, eight declining and three ending firm after an 86 percent decline in the volume of stocks traded valued 80 percent lower than on Wednesday.
The market closed with trading of 58,851 shares for $974,667 down sharply from 418,912 stock units at $4,938,180 on Wednesday.
An average of 2,943 shares were traded at $48,733 down from 20,946 units at $246,909 on Wednesday, with trading month to date averaging 8,252 shares at $105,101 compared with 8,955 units at $112,567 on the previous day and an average for May of 15,629 shares at $129,694.
The Composite Index gained 7.59 points to finish at 1,130.19, the All T&T Index fell 1.72 points to conclude trading at 1,683.64, the SME Index remained unchanged at 86.99 and the Cross-Listed Index rose 2.46 points to wrap up trading at 75.30.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows three stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and seven with lower offers.
At the close of trading, Agostini’s slipped 1 cent to close at $68.24 in an exchange of 291 shares, Angostura Holdings rose 15 cents to $18.15, with 87 units crossing the market, Ansa McAl rallied 71 cents and ended at $63 in switching ownership of 316 shares. 
Ansa Merchant Bank popped 25 cents to finish at $42 after a transfer of 1,025 stock units, Calypso Macro Investment Fund ended at $23.05 after 1,000 shares passed through the market, First Citizens Group fell $1 to $42.25 with investors trading 696 stocks. FirstCaribbean International Bank lost 4 cents to close at $6.90 with 284 stock units clearing the market, GraceKennedy slipped 1 cent to $3.79 with investors dealing in just 5 units, Guardian Holdings rose 8 cents to $15.69 and closed with an exchange of 1,075 shares. JMMB Group increased 3 cents to $1.28, with 26,270 stock units changing hands, L.J. Williams B share skidded 1 cent to end at $1.86 in trading 8 stocks, Massy Holdings climbed 11 cents in closing at $4.16, with investors exchanging 9,479 units. 
National Enterprises fell 10 cents to $3.30 with investors swapping 1,105 stocks, National Flour Mills dropped 9 cents to close at $2.16 after an exchange of 800 stock units, NCB Financial gained 32 cents and ended at $3.10 after a transfer of 2,200 shares. Prestige Holdings remained at $13, with 120 stock units crossing the exchange, Republic Financial shed 96 cents in closing at $108.04 with traders dealing in 6,318 shares, Trinidad & Tobago NGL rose 7 cents to close at $7.42 in an exchange of 6,672 units. Trinidad Cement gained 2 cents to $2.59 with investors trading 1,000 stocks and West Indian Tobacco remained at $10 with an exchange of 100 stock units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Omni loses altitude early
Trading in the shares of this week’s newly listed Omni Industries is frozen after 5,000 shares were traded at $1.05 at 12:44 PM after over 4.29 million shares were traded as high as a dollar $1.30.
The stock is scheduled to resume trading just before 1.45 PM. Bids on the stock have thinned out with 21 bids to purchase shares with the highest being 45,000 shares at $1.02 while the lowest offers are at $1.24 for 201,765 shares with 148 offers currently up to a high of $6 and 69 with offers at $1.41 and below. Bids and offers could change markedly when trading resumes, but the quick fall back in price since Tuesday is not a good sign for investors trying to get out with a decent profit in the short term.
The Junior Market Index slipped to 3,693.66 points from Wednesday’s close of 3,712.88 while the JSE Index rose from 318,607.35 to 320,281.27.
Trading rises on the Trinidad Exchange
Stocks ended trading on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange on Wednesday, with a sharp 300 percent jump in the volume of stocks changing hands following a 150 percent rise in value over Tuesday and resulted in 20 securities trading the same as on Tuesday and ending with prices of six rising, five declining and nine ending firm.
Trading closed with 418,912 shares with a value of $4,938,180 changing hands compared to 104,706 stocks at $1,978,307 on Tuesday.
An average of 20,946 shares were traded at $246,909 up from 5,235 units at $98,915 on Tuesday, with trading month to date averaging 8,955 shares at $112,567 compared with 7,125 units at $92,057 on the previous day and an average for May of 15,629 shares at $129,694.
The Composite Index popped 0.40 points to close at 1,122.60, the All T&T Index climbed 1.30 points to wrap up trading at 1,685.36, the SME Index remained unchanged at 86.99 and the Cross-Listed Index dipped 0.08 points to lock up trading at 72.84.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows five stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close, Agostini’s sank 25 cents to $68.25 with 1,214 stocks clearing the market, Angostura Holdings ended at $18 after exchanging 30 units, Ansa McAl shed 71 cents to close at $62.29 in trading 78 shares. Calypso Macro Investment Fund remained at $23.05 after a transfer of 30 stock units, First Citizens ended at $43.25 after an exchange of 2,564 shares, FirstCaribbean International Bank rose 4 cents to finish at $6.94, with 25,718 units crossing the market. GraceKennedy ended at $3.80 with an exchange of 413 stocks, Guardian Media remained at $1.79 after 91 stock units passed through the market, JMMB Group ended at $1.25 with a transfer of 6,961 shares. Massy Holdings fell 11 cents to end at $4.05 as investors exchanged 26,002 units, National Enterprises remained at $3.40 and closed after an exchange of 1,449 stocks, One Caribbean Media advanced 3 cents to finish at $3.68 in an exchange of 26,809 stock units. 
Point Lisas dipped 24 cents to $3.26 with traders dealing in just one share, Prestige Holdings ended at $13, with 1,226 units crossing the exchange, Republic Financial popped $1 in closing at $109 in switching ownership of 4,131 stocks. Scotiabank remained at $65.99 after an exchange of 2,258 stock units, Trinidad & Tobago NGL increased 35 cents and ended at $7.35 with investors swapping 1,670 shares, Trinidad Cement lost 3 cents to end at $2.57 in an exchange of 499 stocks. Unilever Caribbean climbed 10 cents in closing at $11.80 after trading 317,486 units and West Indian Tobacco gained 60 cents to end at $10 with investors transferring 282 stock units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Gains for Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange
Stocks ended with mostly gains on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange on Tuesday, pushing the market indices higher at the close with the volume of stocks traded declining 24 percent valued 54 percent more than on Monday and resulting in 20 securities trading, up from 18 on Monday and ending with prices of eight stocks rising, seven declining and five ended firm including Republic Financial advanced $2 and First Citizens Group that popped 99 cents higher and partially offset by a 95 cents fall in Calypso Macro Investment Fund.
The market closed with an exchange of 104,706 shares for $1,978,307 versus 137,683 stocks at $1,287,956 on Monday.
An average of 5,235 shares were traded at $98,915 compared with 7,649 units at $71,553 on Monday, with trading month to date averaging 7,125 shares at $92,057 compared with 7,465 units at $90,821 on the previous day and an average for May of 15,629 shares at $129,694.
The Composite Index climbed 5.47 points to finish at 1,122.20, the All T&T Index popped 7.01 points to close at 1,684.06, the SME Index remained unchanged at 86.99 and the Cross-Listed Index increased 0.53 points to lock up trading at 72.92.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close, Agostini’s slipped 25 cents in closing at $68.50 after exchanging 144 shares, Ansa McAl remained at $63 with a transfer of 635 stocks, Ansa Merchant Bank climbed 25 cents and ended at $41.75 after an exchange of a mere 5 stocks. Calypso Macro Investment Fund fell 95 cents to close at $23.05 after a transfer of 610 stock units, First Citizens Group popped 99 cents to $43.25, with 5,473 shares changing hands, FirstCaribbean International Bank shed 3 cents to finish at $6.90 with traders dealing in 4,510 stocks. GraceKennedy ended at $3.80 in an exchange of 457 units, Guardian Holdings gained 1 cent to end at $15.61 after 2,480 stock units passed through the market, Guardian Media dipped 1 cent in closing at $1.79 after an exchange of 37 shares. JMMB Group lost 3 cents and ended at $1.25 with investors trading 4,745 stock units, Massy Holdings closed at $4.16 with 1,485 stocks clearing the market, National Enterprises rose 10 cents to $3.40 with an exchange of 11,843 units. 
NCB Financial remained at $2.78 after closing with 47,944 stocks changing hands, One Caribbean Media skidded 3 cents to $3.65 in trading 481 units, Prestige Holdings ended at $13, with 714 shares crossing the market. Republic Financial advanced $2 to close at $108 with investors transferring 10,324 stock units, Scotiabank rallied 99 cents to finish at $65.99 after 3,331 shares crossed the market, Trinidad & Tobago NGL increased 1 cent to end at $7 with investors swapping 5,435 units. Unilever Caribbean sank 2 cents in closing at $11.70 with 3,500 stocks crossing the exchange and West Indian Tobacco climbed 40 cents to $9.40 in switching ownership of 553 stock units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Omni Industries list and jumps 30%
Omni Industries Limited, the latest listing on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange following an offer of 500 million ordinary shares to the public in May at $1 each, traded 3,138,093 shares up $1.30 for a rise of 30 percent on the public offer that was oversubscribed.
The stock opened trading at $1.25, triggering the market circuit breaker before trading up to $1.30 up to 11.44 AM. The stock has several bids and offers with the highest bid of 995,429 shares at $1.30 with one offer at $1.35 then at $1.40.
As a result of the oversubscription, 20 million shares allocated for Employees were allotted 97.8 percent of the amount applied for. Key Partners’ pool of 234 million shares was allocated 87.2 percent of the applications. Lead Broker Reserve Pool received all of the 125,068,617 shares that were allotted. The general public was allotted the first 10,000 ordinary shares applied for and 25.5 percent of the balance.
Equally split on Trinidad Exchange
Stocks ended with trading ending on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange on Monday in a three way split with those rising, declining and ending firm ending with 6 each, following a 39 percent rise in the number of shares changing hands valued 47 percent less than on Friday.
The trading ended with an exchange of 137,683 shares for $1,287,956 compared to 98,850 stock units at $2,451,133 on Friday.
An average of 7,649 shares were traded for $71,553 compared to 5,203 units at $129,007 on Friday, with trading month to date averaging 7,465 shares at $90,821 compared to 7,430 units at $94,552 on the previous day and an average for May of 15,629 shares at $129,694.
The Composite Index advanced 2.04 points to wrap up trading at 1,116.73, the All T&T Index slipped 0.70 points to end the day at 1,677.05, the SME Index remained unchanged at 86.99 and the Cross-Listed Index rose 0.70 points to 72.39.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows six stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and five with lower offers.
At the close, Agostini’s lost 3 cents to finish at $68.75 with investors swapping 173 stock units, Ansa McAl increased 71 cents to a 52 weeks’ high of $63 after an exchange of 325 shares, Ansa Merchant Bank remained at $41.50 with 266 units crossing the market. First Citizens Group skidded 74 cents to $42.26 with traders dealing in 1,765 stocks, GraceKennedy climbed 23 cents to close at $3.80 after investors traded 5,740 units, JMMB Group ended at $1.28 with 16,137 stock units clearing the market. L.J. Williams B share fell 1 cent to $1.87 in trading 1,525 shares, Massy Holdings popped 11 cents in closing at $4.16 after a transfer of 6,375 stock units, National Enterprises sank 15 cents and ended at $3.30 with investors trading 31,678 shares. 
National Flour Mills ended at $2.25 after an exchange of just 3 stocks, NCB Financial advanced 8 cents to finish at $2.78 with a transfer of 50,588 units, One Caribbean Media ended at $3.68, with a mere 3 stocks crossing the exchange. Prestige Holdings remained at $13 with investors transferring 3,795 shares, Republic Financial declined $2 in closing at $106 in an exchange of 5,450 stocks, Scotiabank shed 24 cents and ended at $65 as 1,951 units passed through the market. Trinidad & Tobago NGL ended at $6.99 in an exchange of 7,300 stock units, Unilever Caribbean rose 2 cents to finish at $11.72, after 2,109 shares passed through the market and West Indian Tobacco gained 25 cents to close trading 2,500 units at $9.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.