Trading closed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange Friday, with the volume of stocks traded declining 21 percent and the value 26 percent lower than on Thursday, with 44 securities trading compared with 40 on Thursday and ended with prices of 18 stocks rising, 16 declining and 10 closing unchanged.
Investors traded 4,704,278 shares for $11,000,031 versus 5,932,563 units at $14,914,276 on Thursday.
Trading averaged 106,915 shares at $250,001 compared with 148,314 shares at $372,857 on Thursday with the month to date, averaging 221,353 units at $510,225 compared with 240,794 stock units at $554,433 on the previous day. July closed with an average of 326,541 units at $843,878.
EduFocal led trading with 1.02 million shares for 21.7 percent of total volume, followed by Stationery and Office Supplies with 533,275 units for 11.3 percent of the day’s trade and Image Plus Consultants with 369,657 units for 7.9 percent market share.
At the close, the Junior Market Index dipped 10.58 points to finish at 3,915.47.
The PE Ratio, a measure of computing appropriate stock values, averages 10.6. The PE ratios of Junior Market stocks are calculated using the last traded price in conjunction with ICInsider.com’s projected earnings for the financial years ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close, Access Financial lost $2.27 in ending at $22.88 with shareholders swapping 1,231 shares, AMG Packaging declined 20 cents in closing at $2.29 in an exchange of 79,192 units, Caribbean Assurance Brokers traded 150,750 shares and rallied 7 cents to close at $2.95. Caribbean Cream dropped 12 cents to end at $4.03 as investors exchanged 987 stocks, Dolphin Cove dipped 10 cents and ended at $16.40, with 613 stock units crossing the market, EduFocal fell 18 cents to close at $1.49 with an exchange of 1,022,469 stock units. Fosrich increased 16 cents to end at $2.16 after exchanging 276,968 units, Honey Bun shed 69 cents to close at $6.05 after an exchange of 40,126 shares, ISP Finance dived $5.26 in closing at $21.23 in an exchange of 5,000 stocks. JFP Ltd rallied 10 cents and ended at $1.80 after a transfer of 2,601 shares, Lasco Manufacturing lost 12 cents to close at $4.88 after the price hit an intraday 52 weeks’ high of $5.29 and ended with 5,036 stocks being exchanged. The supply of Lasco Manufacturing shares has been drastically reduced over the past two weeks, a factor worth watching in the near term. Lumber Depot rose 12 cents to end at $2.07 with a transfer of 95,145 units. Main Event popped $1.05 in closing at $15.40 while exchanging 51,967 stocks, MFS Capital Partners advanced 8 cents to $2.48 and closed with an exchange of 21,035 units, Regency Petroleum climbed 8 cents and ended at $2.51 after 170,072 stocks changed hands and Spur Tree Spices dipped 10 cents to close at $2.20 after 262,428 shares passed through the market.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.