The Jamaica Stock Exchange Main Market ended trading on Friday, with the market rising after an almost equal number of stocks rising and falling after an exchange of 95 percent more shares and 437 percent more value than on Thursday.
At the close, the All Jamaican Composite Index carved out a gain of 2,653.46 points to 403,299.57, the Main Index increased 2,608.75 points to 368,392.30 and the JSE Financial Index gained 1.17 points to settle at 96.99.
Trading ended with 39 securities changing hands compared to 43 on Thursday and closed with the prices of 15 stocks rising, 16 declining and eight remaining unchanged. The average PE Ratio of the market ended at 15.6 based on IC Insider.com forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
The market closed with an exchange of 12,180,541 shares for $217,796,102 compared to 6,254,690 units at $40,537,477 on Thursday. Kingston Wharves led trading with 32.9 percent of total volume equaling 4 million shares, followed by Pulse Investments with 21.2 percent for 2.58 million units, Wigton Windfarm with 16.1 percent market share for 1.96 million units and Transjamaican Highway with 1.86 million units changing hands for 15.3 percent of the day’s volume.
Trading closed with an average of 312,322 units changing hands at $5,584,515 for each security compared to an average of 145,458 shares at $942,732 on Thursday. The average trade for the month to date ended at 217,776 units at $1,474,275 for each security, in contrast to 211.084 units at $1,183,350. Trading month to date compares adversely to August’s average of 497,441 units at $3,201,918.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the market shows eight stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Barita Investments shed 99 cents to end at $59, with investors swapping 13,701 shares, Caribbean Cement climbed $1.65 to $49.15, after exchanging 313 units, Eppley Caribbean Property Fund jumped $5.48 to settle at an all-time high of $57.48, in an exchange of 156 stock units. First Rock Capital closed at $13, after picking up 55 cents and trading 6,461 stocks, Jamaica Broilers Group gained 50 cents to settle at $26, with 13,590 stock units clearing the market, JMMB Group rose 58 cents to $29.60, in trading 4,656 stock units. 
Key Insurance climbed 75 cents to $8.48 after exchanging 73,209 shares. Kingston Wharves declined $4 in closing at $46, after an exchange of 4,004,829 shares, Mayberry Investments lost 43 cents to finish at $5.17, with 16,500 stock units passing through the market, NCB Financial Group fell to $132, after losing $1 and trading 42,183 stock units. 138 Student Living gained 49 cents to close at $5, with an exchange of 30 shares, Palace Amusement dropped $125 to end at $1,495 in an exchange of 13 units, Proven Investments lost 64 cents to settle at $38.50, in transferring 1,631 units, Sagicor Group lost 40 cents to close at $44.30, with investors swapping 35,333 shares. Scotia Group advanced by $3.75, ending at $50 while exchanging 47,493 shares, Seprod lost 89 cents to close at $55, with investors switching ownership of 2,229 stock units and Wisynco Group rose $1.34, in ending at $16.50, with 25,039 stock units changing hands.
In the preference segment of the market, Community & Workers Credit Union gained 43 cents to end at $1.98 in trading just five units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
The T&T Composite Index declined by 5.59 points to 1,318.36, The All T&T Index added 4.65 points to 1,801.51, while the Cross Listed Index fell by 2.18 points to close at 112.77.
Massy Holdings fell 31 cents to $58.69, after transferring 6,845 units, NCB Financial Group settled at $7.70, with a loss of 30 cents in an exchange of 500 units. One Caribbean Media shed 14 cents trading 2,000 units to finish at $5.06, Scotiabank closed 9 cents lower at $54.90, with 500 shares crossing the market and Trinidad and Tobago NGL lost 7 cents to close at $6.03, in exchanging 600 stock units.
The average trade for the month to date ended at 211,084 units at $1,183,350 for each security, in contrast to 216,639 units at $1,203,718. Trading month to date compares adversely to August’s 497,441 units at $3,201,918. 
First Rock Capital fell 75 cents to $12.45, with the swapping of 8,821 stock units, Jamaica Broilers gained 60 cents to end at $25.50 trading 7,334 units. Jamaica Stock Exchange gained 60 cents to finish at $19, exchanging 5,121 units, Palace Amusement dropped $80 to close at $1,620, with investors switching ownership of just seven stock units, Proven Investments advanced $2.97 to $39.14 and clearing the market with 6,561 units. Salada Foods climbed $2.98 to $27.99, in an exchange of 56 stock units, Scotia Group declined $1.25 to settle at $46.25, with 101,459 shares changing hands and Wisynco Group dropped $1.19 to end at $15.16 trading 808,615 shares.
At the close, the All Jamaican Composite Index declined by 3,653.98 points to 399,521.22. The Main Index fell by 3,312.47 points to 364,705.28, the JSE Financial Index shed 1.02 points to settle at 96.19.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the market shows seven stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
Kingston Properties shed $1.10 to settle at $6.30 with investors swapping 50 units. Kingston Wharves jumped $6.90 to settle at $49.90 after 350 units crossed the market, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy dropped $8 to $155, in an exchange of 321 units, Portland JSX lost 48 cents in closing at $7.02 and trading 2,400 stock units. Proven Investments fell $1.82 to $36.17, with investors swapping 3,366 stock units, Salada Foods declined by $3.74 to $25.01, with an exchange of 6,979 stock units, Scotia Group shed 50 cents to settle at $47.50, in transferring 117,147 shares. Seprod rose to $55.89, after climbing $1.89 and exchanging 22,839 shares, Supreme Ventures gained 65 cents to close at $14, trading 24,670 shares and Sygnus Credit Investments rose 47 cents to $17.97, with 26,303 shares changing hands.
The market closed with seventeen securities trading with four stocks advancing, eight declining and five unchanged. Trading resulted in 190,298 shares passing through the market valued at $3,240,340 compared to 134,360 shares for $3,706,470 on Tuesday from 12 securities.
National Flour slipped to $1.80, with a loss of 3 cents trading 1,400 shares, Point Lisas lost 10 cents, exchanging 1,272 units to settle at $3.15, Republic Financial Holdings shed 52 cents to close at $142, with 1,440 units changing hands. Unilever Caribbean was down 3 cents to $16.97, trading 688 stocks and West Indian Tobacco ended at $35.01, with a loss of 99 cents, transferring 7,353 stock units.
Trading ended with an average of 118,745 units at $931,929 for each security, in comparison to an average of 175,363 shares at $1,776,099 on Monday. The average trade for the month to date ended at 218,043 units at $1,233,488 for each security, in contrast to 227,925 units at $1,263,501. Trading month to date compares adversely to August’s average of 497,441 units at $3,201,918.
Grace Kennedy dropped $1.12 to end at $55.80 after 57,594 shares crossed the market, Jamaica Producers slid 90 cents to $20 trading 15,823 stock units, Jamaica Stock Exchange dropped $2.34, to $17.65 with an exchange of 398,445 shares. Kingston Wharves tumbled to $43, after losing $4.50 with 22,458 stock units changing hands, NCB Financial closed at $133.02, declining by $1.98 after investors swapped 15,856 stock units, Palace Amusement climbed a further $110 after surging by $290 on Monday, to close at $1,700 in exchange for 201 units. Portland JSX shed $1 to close at $7.50 with investors switching ownership of 95,828 shares, Proven Investments climbed $1.49 to $37.99, trading 2,303 units, Scotia Group fell to $48, shedding $2.99 with 79,136 shares crossing the exchange and Seprod declined by $1.50 to settle at $54 trading 11,908 stock units.
Massy Holdings shed 50 cents transferring 3,125 units to finish at $58.50, National Enterprises lost 4 cents to settle at $4.01, in exchanging 4,600 stock units. One Caribbean Media closed at $5.20, after slipping 4 cents trading 6,600 stocks, Republic Financial Holdings ended at $142.52, after shedding 8 cents and exchanging 16,154 stock units and Scotiabank fell 4 cents to $54.95, with 1,442 shares crossing the market.
At the close, the All Jamaican Composite Index advanced by 1,234.87 points to 403,872.59, the Main Index rose 1,122.68 points to 368,649.45 and the JSE Financial Index gained 0.01 point to close at 97.15.
Trading month to date compares adversely to August with an average of 497,441 units at $3,201,918.
Key Insurance lost 55 cents to end at $7.95 exchanging 31,426 shares. Kingston Wharves closed at $47.50, with gains of 50 cents and 101 units crossing the exchange, Mayberry Investments gained 47 cents in ending at $5.60 and trading 884 units, Mayberry Jamaican Equities settled at $8.49, after picking up 97 cents, with 250 units clearing the market. Palace Amusement surged $290 to end at $1,590, with an exchange of 88 units, after the company announced the opening of a drive-in cinema in New Kingston. Salada Foods jumped $3.75 to $28.75, with investors switching ownership of 6,979 stock units, 
Retail loan grew 5 percent year over year, driven by strong mortgage growth of 16 percent. Total revenues, excluding expected credit losses for the nine months, ended July at $32.1 billion, a reduction of $1.7 billion or 5.1 percent, compared to 2019. For the July 2020 quarter, gross revenues fell from $12.4 billion to $11 billion, with non-interest income contributing $1.1 billion to the decline. Administrative and other expenses were essentially flat at $5.8 billion year over year, a $2 billion increase in provision for expected loan loss helped push profit down in the quarter, to $1.55 billion from $4.2 billion in 2019. Notably, while loans amounting to $221 billion at the end of July grew 12 percent year over year, loans declined modestly from $223 billion at the end of April, the result of the increased credit loss provisioning.
The targeted average PE ratio of the market 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, an indication of the potential gains ahead. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 15.1 and the Junior Market 10.9, 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 at just 55 percent to the average of the overall Junior Market. 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 279 percent, and 153 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings, an indication of potentially, greater gains in the Junior Market than in the Main Market.
Trading ended with an average of 95,497 units at $1,203,930 for each security, in comparison to an average of 244,891 shares at $884,695 on Thursday. The average trade for the month to date ended at 233,735 units at $1,206,845 for each security, in contrast to 187,575 units at $1,207,217. Trading month to date compares adversely to August’s average of 497,441 units at $3,201,918.
First Rock Capital fell $1.05 to settle at $12, with 12,574 shares changing hands, Jamaica Broilers Group shed 36 cents to end at $24.60, after 14,625 stock units crossed the market, Kingston Wharves rose $1 to $47, in trading 377 units. Mayberry Jamaican Equities lost 55 cents with an exchange of 10,384 stock units to end at $7.52, Portland JSX advanced $1.48, in ending at $8.50 with investors switching ownership of 400 stock units, Proven Investments finished at $36.35, with gains of 4 cents in trading 7,476 stock units. Salada Foods declined by $2.99 to close at $25 in transferring 10,000 stock units, Scotia Group gained 50 cents in closing at $50.50, with 124,036 shares passing through the market, Seprod rose $2 to $55.50 after the transfer of 24,995 stock units. Supreme Ventures picked up 49 cents to settle at $14, with investors switching ownership of 165,785 shares and Wisynco Group shed 65 cents to end at $16.35, in exchanging 40,884 shares.
