The Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange recovered some lost ground on Thursday with JSE All Jamaican Composite Index jumping 1,681.33 points to 311,750.81 and the JSE Index climbing 1,531.89 points to 284,040.25.
Main market activities ended with 9 stocks rising, 11 declining and 5 trading firm as 22 securities traded versus 22 on Wednesday.
Market activity ended with 4,616,878 shares valued at $176,039,060, in contrast to 3,008,815 shares valued at $51,707,605 on Wednesday.
Trading in the US dollar market ended Proven Investments trading 78,270 ordinary shares with a value of US$17,207 at 22 US cents. The JSE US Equities Index closed with a loss of 0.09 points to 168.66.
Trading ended with an average of 164,889 units for an average of $6,287,109 in contrast to 136,764 units for an average of $2,350,346 on Wednesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 256,118 units valued at $6,475,597 and previously 263,882 units valued at $6,493,073. December closed with average of 686,156 units valued at an average of $8,654,832 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and the US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 2 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.
The major movers at the close of the market are, Victoria Mutual Investments trading just under the million range, with 893,653 units changing hands and Wisynco Group exchanging 1,751,629 units. Price changes saw Berger Paints closing $1.49 higher at $18, Caribbean Cement jumping $2.50 to close at $35, Jamaica Producers closed $1.50 higher at $18, Kingston Wharves settled with a loss of $1.42 at $30.08 and Seprod concluded trading with a loss of $1.50 at $28.50.
For more details of market activities see – Demand rise for VM Investments & Wisynco .
Volume climbs for VM Investments and Wisynco
Victoria Mutual Investments and Wisynco Group dominated trading with nearly 1 million shares trading for each company on the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange as investor cnt seem to get enough of these companies.
Market activity ended on Wednesday with 22 securities changing hands, of which 9 advanced, 8 declined, 5 traded firm leading to 3,008,815 shares valued at $51,707,605 changing hands.
At the close of the market the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index fell 1,339.60 points to 310,069.48 and the JSE Index lost 1,220.52 points to 282,508.36.
In main market activity, Berger Paints closed at $16.51, with 100 shares, Cable & Wireless concluded trading at $1.32, with 190,904 units, Carreras finished 1 cent higher at $11.06, with 102,578 shares, Caribbean Cement settled with a loss of 1 cent at $32.50, with 1,255 shares, Ciboney Group ended trading with a loss of 1 cent at 34 cents, with 1,200 shares. Grace Kennedy traded with a loss of 36 cents at $43, with 36,813 stock units, Jamaica Broilers finished trading 50 cents higher at $18, with 40,566 units, Jamaica Producers closed at $16.50, with 7,650 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange ended 5 cents higher at $7, with 21,400 shares. JMMB Group concluded trading 38 cents higher at $25.11, with 35,034 shares, Kingston Properties finished at $6, with 5,694 stock units, NCB Financial Group traded 23 cents higher at $99.80, with 69,739 shares, 1834 Investments finished trading at $1.27, with 496 shares. PanJam Investment ended with a loss of 62 cents at $38.52, with 17,275 units, Radio Jamaica settled 5 cents higher at $1.10, with 20,500 shares, Sagicor Group ended trading 50 cents higher at $36.50, with 65,692 stock units, Scotia Group finished trading $2.75 higher at $52.99, with 438,944 shares. Seprod closed $1 higher at $30, with 8,476 shares, Supreme Ventures concluded trading 11 cents higher at $11.60, with 74,120 stock units, VM Investments Limited finished with a loss of 6 cents at $3.99, with 864,709 units, Wisynco Group settled with a loss of 10 cents at $10, with 981,918 shares and Sagicor Real Estate Fund ended trading with a loss of 25 cents at $14, with 23,752 shares.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place. For more details of market activities, see Main market lost more ground – Wednesday.
Great period ahead for stocks
Last year was a great one for Jamaican stocks but an assessment of the market suggests that 2018 could be a grand year as well with overall price gains likely to be in excess of 40 percent.
Based on projected earnings for 2018, the average PE ratio suggests that the main market stock prices should grow by 26 percent and Junior Market by 36 percent. Falling interest rates could add another 20 percent to gains during the year, bringing them to be in excess of 40 percent.
Technical readings of the markets have the main market heading initially to around 390,000 points or 23 percent ahead of the December close, for the all Jamaica Index, with the junior market moving to 3,900 points, 43 percent higher than the end of 2017, before resistance sets in. Before moving much higher, the Junior Market must break through the 3,000 and 3,200 levels which were set when the market dropped after Lasco Distributors fell from the $7 level to below $4 late in 2017, helped by a fall in Lasco manufacturing.
Last year was a great one for Jamaican stocks, with 14 of the 64 ordinary shares of companies that were listed prior to the December new listings, rising 100 percent or more and 16 rising between 50 and 81 percent.
Although, the Junior and Main Market index rose just 5.3 percent and 51 percent respectively, at the end of the year, only 9 of the 34 listings at the end of the year recorded losses, while the main market recorded just 5 declining stocks.
Importantly, the average gains for the Junior Market is 79 percent and losses, averaging of 20 percent, for a net gain of 59 percent. The average main market stock rose 68 percent while losses averaged 22 percent, for a net of 48 percent.
2017 IPOS|The past year saw 9 new companies listing on the exchange, another 9 could list in 2018. If the trend of the 2017 IPOs with all ordinary IPO shares rising, repeats for 2018 IPOs, then investors can look forward to another round of profitable new offerings. Added to that, a number of last year’s listings should continue to deliver above average returns in 2018.
Stocks to grow in 2018| IC Insider.com projects a better performance in the Junior Market Index in 2018 than for 2017 but the main market may be challenged to deliver a similar performance. Many of the main market heavy weights will find it tough to repeat the strong gains they enjoyed in 2017, if that is the case, their impact on the market index is likely to be less than for 2017. Another factor that could make a repeat of 2017 tough, is the movement of interest rates. Last year, Treasury bill rates fell 29 percent from 6.56 percent to 4.83 percent, that level of decline, is unlikely to happen in 2018, even as some of the decline in the latter part of 2017 is yet to be fully reflected in the prices of stocks to date and should positively affect prices in 2018. IC Insider.com is forecasting rates on 182 days Treasury bill hitting 4 percent by the end of the 2018 first quarter. New listings could help move the indices in 2018, the likely impact on them is unknown at this point.
Increasing GDP| There are a number of other factors at play that are set to impact the market. Increasing employment taking place should continue in 2018 as economic activity gains momentum, this will mean more spending and increased tax collection for government. Alpart resumption of Alumina production is a big positive for the overall economy, for increased government revenues and increased demand for local goods and services, some of which are provided by listed companies. The tourism sector is enjoying strong growth, apart from increasing foreign exchange intake for the country, will have direct impact on Jamaica Producers, Dolphin Cove, Express Catering, Caribbean Producers and Sagicor X Fund. Jamaica seems to be going through a construction boom with several new buildings under construction, Caribbean Cement and Berger Paints should benefit considerably while Blue Power’s lumber segment should see improved sales from such developments.
Lower interest rates mean lower cost for many companies and revaluation of the Jamaican dollar also means lower cost but could result in lower revenues in some cases. More listing on the market means more fee income for JSE and brokerage houses, from increased trading volumes.