The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended Friday with modest gains in the market index to close out May, up 9 percent for the month but is still 21.4 percent adrift of the start of the year.
At the close of market activities, the prices of 13 securities advanced, 10 declined and eight remained unchanged. The Junior Market Index advanced by 4.54 points to close at 2,632.97 and the average PE ratio of the market ended at 9.5 times 2020-21 earnings.
Trading resulted in 31 securities changing hands and an exchange of 4,090,696 units at $13,986,259 compared to 4,251,896 units at $11,083,038 on Thursday.
The average trade for the day was 131,958 units for $451,170 in contrast to 146,617 units for an average of $382,174 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 150,274 units valued at $491,077 and previously 151,266 units valued at $93,240. In contrast, April closed with an average of 447,863 units valued at $1,028,076 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and five with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial added 49 cents to end at $23 and traded 1,314 shares, AMG Packaging rose 5 cents and exchanged 500 shares at $1.55, Blue Power shed 15 cents in trading of 5,000 units at $3.60. Caribbean Cream closed 7 cents higher at $2.80, with 167,826 stock units trading, Caribbean Producers gained 1 cent to end at $2.36, trading 301,257 shares, Consolidated Bakeries ended market activity exchanging 145,650 shares to close at $1.64 after falling 6 cents. Elite Diagnostic closed trading of 32,398 units and gained 10 cents to end at $3.50, Everything Fresh ended with a loss of 1 cent at 73 cents with 133,453 stock units changing hands, Express Catering closed 44 cents higher at $4.45, with 91,687 stock units trading. Fontana closed trading of 259,958 units and gained 24 cents to end at $5.94, General Accident closed 25 cents higher at $6.25, with 118,999 stock units trading, Honey Bun declined 29 cents in trading of 15,596 units at $5.12. Indies Pharma closed with a loss of 4cents at $2.25 in swapping 66,561shares, ISP Finance ended lost $1 at $13 with 50 units changing hands, Jetcon Corporation closed trading of 30 units and gained 10 cents to end at 90 cents. 
Knutsford Express ended at $8.95, after rising $1.45 and trading 20,792 shares, Lasco Distributors closed with a loss of 20 cents at $2.95 after swapping 92,095 shares, Lasco Manufacturing closed trading of 1,186,538 shares and gained 40 cents to end at $4.90 (See note at the foot of this story). Limners and Bards rose 2 cents and exchanged 34,476 shares at $1.84. Mailpac Group closed with a loss of 2 cents at $1.86while trading 792,156 shares, Medical Disposables ended market activity, exchanging 4,114 stock units to settle at $6.90 after falling 10 cents and Stationery and Office Supplies lost 6 cents in trading 97,229 shares at $6.21.
NB The JSE trading sheet posted on the exchange website shows Lasco Manufacturing trading 1,186,538 shares, but the trading platform used for trading had just 221,121 shares traded, its unclear which is correct at the time of going to publishing. The trading sheet also has Eppley as trading in the Junior Market. The stock migrated to the main market for several months.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
At the end of market activities on Thursday, 29 securities changing hands, with the prices of 12 securities advanced, 12 declined and five remained unchanged. The PE ratio of the market ended at 9.3 times 2020-21 earnings.
At the close of the market, Access Financial shed 49 cents in trading of 1,000 units to settle at $22.51, AMG Packaging declined by 25 cents to $1.50 with 2,200 units changing hands, 
Jetcon Corporation fell 9 cents and closed at 80 cents after swapping 50,000 shares. 
At the close of the market, Access Financial shed 25 cents in the exchange of 47,605 units to end at $23, Caribbean Assurance Brokers fell 15 cents to $2.30 with 5,834 shares changing hands, Caribbean Cream slipped 3 cents and traded 4,900 shares to close at $2.72. Caribbean Flavours ended 2 cents lower at $10 in an exchange of 1,276,041 stock units, Derrimon Trading declined by 22 cents and exchanged 211,000 shares to settle at $2.50, Dolphin Cove rose by 25 cents to $7.25 in swapping 1,545 units. Elite Diagnostic ended at $3.35 after falling 5 cents and trading 24,942 shares, Everything Fresh declined by 5 cents in the swapping of 116,123 stock units to close at 75 cents, Express Catering leaped 99 cents to $4.51 in the exchange of 29,558 shares. Fontana closed at $5.95 after climbing 35 cents and trading 507,948 stock units, Fosrich fell 15 cents in the trade of 11,795 units to close at $3.85, 
Knutsford Express jumped 28 cents to $8.98 with 36,752 units changing hands. Lasco Distributors dropped 17 cents to $2.73, with 34,238 shares crossing the exchange, Lasco Financial slipped 5 cents and exchanged 198,900 shares to end at $2.65, Lasco Manufacturing traded a volume leading 6,099,978 units to close at $4.01 after inching 1 cent higher. Limners and Bards increased by 20 cents in swapping 410,000 units to end at $1.95, Lumber Depot finished 1 cent lower at $1.13 with 88,045 shares changing hands, 
Investors traded 32 securities, resulting in an exchange of 4,137,638 units valued at $10,997,880 compared to 4,259,300 units valued at $14,475,328 from 35 securities on Friday. The average PE ratio of the Junior Market ended at 9.2 based on 2020-21 earnings.
At the close of the market, Cargo Handlers dropped 50 cents to $6.05 with 6,438 units traded, Caribbean Cream closed 6 cents higher at $2.75 with an exchange of 61,233 stock units, Caribbean Producers traded 1,418,225 shares and fell 12 cents to end at $2.40. Derrimon Trading jumped 22 cents in swapping of 28,295 shares to settle at $2.72, Dolphin Cove shed 23 cents to close at $7 with 5,709 units changing hands, Elite Diagnostic gained 11 cents and exchanged 92,470 shares to settle at $3.40. Express Catering inched 1 cent higher to finish at $3.52 with 33,230 units traded, Fontana dropped 30 cents to $5.60 with 220,601 units crossing the market, General Accident leaped 49 cents exchanging 30,026 stock units to close at $6.50. GWest lost 3 cents in the trading of 1,160 shares to close at 87 cents, Honey Bun declined by 37 cents to $5.08 with 131,812 shares changing hands, iCreate closed 3 cents lower at 52 cents with 87,177 stock units traded. Indies Pharma picked up 2 cents and exchanged 13,245 shares to settle at $2.22, Iron Rock Insurance ended the day 10 cents down, at $3.80 with an exchange of 10,000 shares, 
Jamaican Teas climbed 6 cents to settle at $4.35 with 158,546 units crossing the market. Limners and Bards dipped 7 cents to $1.75 with 103,494 shares traded, Lumber Depot swapped 136,889 shares to finish at $1.14 after gaining 2cents, Medical Disposables jumped 30 cents to $7.30 with an exchange of 21,814 units. Paramount Trading added 1 cent to finish at $2 after trading 12,300 shares and Stationery and Office Supplies closed 25 cents higher at $6.25, with 5,809 stock units crossing the exchange.
Cargo Handlers closed 5 cents higher at $6.55, with 190 stock units trading, Caribbean Cream climbed 15 cents and exchanged 734 shares at $2.69, Caribbean Producers closed 11 cents higher at $2.52, with 477,643 stock units trading. Derrimon Trading closed 7 cents higher at $2.50, with 17,431 stock units traded, Elite Diagnostic declined by 59 cents in exchanging 9,360 units at $3.29, Express Catering climbed 16 cents and exchanged 18,269 shares at $3.51, Fosrich closed 30 cents higher after trading 99,267 stock units at $4. Fontana closed trading of 96,620 units and gained 34 cents to end at $5.90, General Accident closed 2 cents higher at $6.01, with 648,867 stock units trading. Honey Bun climbed 45 cents and exchanged 52,137 shares at $5.45, iCreate closed with 112,094 units passing through the market and gained 2 cents to end at 55 cents, Iron Rock Insurance declined by 9 cents to settle at $3.90, with 3,000 units changing hands. Jamaican Teas ended trading of 125,687 units with gains of 39 cents to end at $4.29, Jetcon Corporation closed with a loss of 8 cents at 80 cents swapping 28,000 shares, Knutsford Express closed trading of 500 units and gained 20 cents to end at $8.70. 
Lasco Distributors declined by 10 cents trading 630,500 units at $2.90, Lasco Manufacturing fell by 30 cents exchanging 797,613 units at $4, Limners and Bards dipped 8 cents trading 198,771 units at $1.82. Lumber Depot shed 2 cents trading 370,242 units at $1.12, MailPac Group closed with a loss of 3 cents at $1.88 swapping 251,508 shares, Medical Disposables shed 5 cents transferring 22,711 units at $7. Main Event lost 10 cents in trading of 18,000 units at $4.08, Stationery and Office Supplies lost 5 cents 20,757 units changing hands at $6. SSL Venture ended market activity while exchanging 18,400 shares to close at 75 cents, after falling 10 cents and tTech closed with a loss of 9 cents at $4.41 after swapping 42,269 shares.
At the close of the market, the recently listed Caribbean Assurance Brokers climbed 11 cents to $2.50 with an exchange of 80,524 units as supply continues to dry up for the stock. Caribbean Cream ended with a loss of 1 cent at $2.54 with 20,000 stock units changing hands, Caribbean Producers finished at $2.41 after sliding 8 cents in the swapping 526,391 units, Derrimon Trading jumped 31 cents in the exchange of 85,106 shares to close at $2.43. Everything Fresh ended 9 cents higher at 80 cents with 26,000 shares changing hands, Express Catering shed 16 cents trading 23,200 stock units at $3.35, Fontana ended market activity 12 cents higher at $5.56 trading 298,168 shares. General Accident jumped 99 cents in the exchange of 1,404,778 units to close at $5.99 after the company posted first-quarter results, with profit rising 146 percent to $76 million as investments and other income grew from just $7 million to $74 million. Honey Bun fell 15 cents to $5 with 34,711 shares crossing the exchange, iCreate added 2 cents and exchanged 70,302 shares to finish at 53 cents, Iron Rock Insurance climbed 54 cents to $3.99 with trading a mere 200 units, Jamaican Teas lost 10 cents in swapping 41,176 units to end at $3.90. 
Lasco Distributors declined 3 cents to finish at $3 in the trading 95,285 units, Lasco Manufacturing jumped 25 cents and swapped 1,481 shares to settle at $4.30, Limners and Bards finished at $1.90 after gaining 5 cents and exchanging 12,428 shares. Lumber Depot added 1 cent and traded 79,678 units to close at $1.14, MailPac picked up 3 cents to end at $1.91 with 166,821 shares changing hands, Main Event rounded out the day at $4.18 after gaining 10 cents and exchanging 200 shares. Medical Disposables closed trading of 77,337 units and slipped 7 cents to end at $7.05, Stationery and Office Supplies dropped 25 cents in swapping 68,787 shares to settle at $6.05 and tTech fell 25 cents to $4.50 with 21,000 with units crossing the exchange.
The day’s activities ended with 30 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 2,553,437 units valued at $9,523,569 compared to 7,713,659 units for $39,344,491 from 31 companies on Tuesday. The average PE ratio of the Junior Market ended at 9.1 times 2020-21 earnings.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows three stocks ended with bids higher than its last selling prices and three with lower offers.
ISP Finance shed $1.90 in the trading of 6,010 shares to end at $14, Jamaican Teas inched 1 cent higher and exchanged 52,000 shares to settle at $4, Knutsford Express jumped 80 cents to $8.50 with 3,470 units changing hands. Lasco Distributors climbed 73 cents to $3.03, with the swapping of 200 shares, Lasco Financial picked up 10 cents and exchanged 36,897 shares to end at $2.70, Lasco Manufacturing traded 1,018,392 units to close at $4.05 after slipping 4 cents. Limners and Bards declined 5 cents in switching 5,500 units to end at $1.85, Lumber Depot gained 1 cent to end at $1.13 with 95,476 shares traded, MailPac Group gained 4 cents in the exchange of 343,873 units to settle at $1.88 and Medical Disposables jumped 82 cents to close at $7.12 with 6,000 shares crossing the exchange.
Market activities concluded with the prices of 12 securities rising, seven declining and 12 holding firm as the market index dived 42.97 points to close at 2,410.29. The average PE ratio of the Junior Market ended at nine times 2020-21 earnings.
At the close of the market, Access Financial jumped 90 cents in the trading of 2,275 units to settle at $24, Caribbean Assurance Brokers finished 20 cents higher at $2.35 with 1,000 units changing hands, Caribbean Flavours gained 30 cents after swapping 200 shares to end at $10. Caribbean Producers finished at $2.50 after rising 10 cents with 783,115 units changing hands, Dolphin Cove surged 80 cents to close at $7.80 with 8,951 shares crossing the exchange, Elite Diagnostic dropped 8 cents to close at $3.80 in the trading of 2900 units. Everything Fresh slipped 6 cents to 71 cents after exchanging 15,000 shares, Express Catering added 3 cents in trading 21,909 stock units to close at $3.45, Fosrich settled at $3.70 after gaining 20 cents and trading 16,158 shares. General Accident ended 19 cents lower at $4.51 with 161,350 units changing hands, Honey Bun climbed 38 cents to finish at $5.40 with 45,609 stock units trading, 
Lasco Distributors shed 80 cents in exchanging 237,500 shares to close at $2.30. Lasco Financial finished at $2.60 after losing 9 cents in swapping 59,900 units, Lasco Manufacturing added 9 cents to close at $4.09 with 29,766 shares changing hands, Mailpac Group added 1 cent and exchanged 380,004 shares to end at $1.84. Medical Disposables jumped 45 cents to $6.30 with 5,094,791 shares crossing the market, Paramount Trading lost 1 cent and exchanged a mere 15 units to close at $1.99. SSL Venture dropped 5 cents in the swapping of 10,500 units to close at 85 cents and Stationery and Office Supplies closed 10 cents higher at $6.30 with 20,251 units crossing the exchange.
At the close of market activities, 36 securities changed hands the prices of 12 securities advanced, 16 declined and eight remained unchanged with the average Pe ratio for the market ending at 8.8 times 2020-21 earnings.
At the close of the market, Access Financial gained $1 to end at $23.10 with 701 stock units trading, Blue Power ended trading with 27,924 shares, after rising 12 cents to close at $3.55, CAC 2000 closed trading of 1,000 units and gained 39 cents to end at $9.39. Caribbean Cream fell by 20 cents in trading of 150,000 units at $2, Caribbean Flavours shed 30 cents in exchanging 1,752 units at $9.70, Caribbean Producers lost 10 cents in trading 396,001 shares to close at $2.40. Consolidated Bakeries closed 19 cents higher at $1.70, trading 9,455 stock units, Derrimon Trading closed 19 cents higher at $2, with 3,021,923 stock units changing hands, Everything Fresh closed trading of 1,000 units with gains of 6 cents to end at 77 cents, Express Catering ended market activity exchanging 22,223 shares to close at $3.42 after falling by 8 cents. Fontana slipped 13 cents in trading 96,338 shares to close at $5.44. Fosrich lost 20 cents in trading of 19,426 units at $3.50, GWest Corporation closed trading of 1,000 units and gained 10 cents to end at 90 cents, Honey Bun lost 18 cents with 49,002 units crossing the market at $5.02. iCreate was down 4 cents in trading 391,995 shares to close at 51 cents, Iron Rock Insurance ended trading with 33,900 shares, after rising 75 cents to end at $3.45, ISP Finance lost 9 cents in trading of 1,000 units at $15.90.
Jamaican Teas closed trading of 13,510 units and gained 18 cents to end at $3.99, Knutsford Express declined 8 cents in trading of 43,553 units at $7.70. Lasco Distributors dipped 15 cents in trading of 53,691 units at $3.10, Lasco Manufacturing exchanged 24,398 shares, after rising 3 cents to end at $4. Limners and Bards closed with 4,834 units changing hands and gained 5 cents to end at $1.90, Lumber Depot ended with a loss of 1 cent at $1.12 with an exchange of 87,105 stock units. Mailpac Group declined by 5 cents to settle at $1.83 in swapping 257,532 shares, Main Event lost 2 cents trading 9,587 shares to close at $4.08, Medical Disposables declined by 35 cents in exchanging 6,795 units at $5.85 and tTech closed at $4.75 after rising $1.04 with 1,783 shares crossing the exchange.