JSE main market pulls back from record

The Jamaica Stock Exchange pulled back from the record close on Friday with the market indices declining with the volume and value traded rising above Friday’s levels.
The All Jamaica Composite Index declined 452.43 points to close at 278,307.75, the JSE Market Index declined 412.22 points to 253,569.88 and the JSE US dollar market index fell 6.51 points to 177.52.
At the close of trading, 24 securities changed hands in the main market with 1 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 9 stocks advancing and 10 declining. The main market ended with 3,602,298 units valued at $94,690,959 changing hands compared to 2,197,630 units valued at $56,139,038 at the close on Friday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 174,932 units valued at US$40,234 bringing the total of all trades to J$99,840,958.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 4 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 1 with a lower offer.
The main market ended trading with an average of 150,096 units valued at $3,945,457 for each security traded compared to an average of 84,254 units valued at $2,159,194. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at $185,421 units with an average value of $3,984,939 compared with an average of 187,499 units with an average value of $3,987,261 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for July ended at 160,668 units with an average value of $2,691,438.
At the close of the market, the last traded prices of securities and volume changing hands are, Barita Investments with a loss of 51 cents in closing at $10.49 with 2,449 shares, Berger Paints closed at $16, after gaining 25 cents with 500 shares, Cable and Wireless lost 5 cents to close at $1.10 with 299,771 shares, Caribbean Cement climbed $2.50 and ended at $30 with 76,723 shares, Carreras inched 1 cent higher to close at $108 with 473,898 shares, Grace Kennedy traded 206,942 shares at $41.50. Jamaica Broilers with gains of 14 cents, closed at $17.75 with 4,965 shares, Jamaica Producers dropped $1.52 to $14.98 with 1,053,204 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $5.70, with a loss of 30 cents trading 1,645 shares, JMMB Group lost 10 cents to close at $20.90 with 301,858 shares. Kingston Properties closed at $8 with 4,184 units, Kingston Wharves rose 6 cents and closed at $30.85 with 5,743 shares, NCB Financial Group closed at $87.99, having lost $1 with 5,571 stock units, PanJam Investment gained 5 cents to $33 with 39,433 shares, Portland JSX traded 5 cents lower to $9.25 with 10,000 shares. Pulse Investments ended with a loss of 5 cents at $2 with 16,600 shares, Sagicor Group added 50 cents, closing at $32 with 19,990 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund gained 2 cents to close at $12 trading 490,652 shares, Scotia Group closed 40 cents higher at $45.50 with 1,651 shares, Sterling Investments exchanged 2,000 shares at $14, Supreme Ventures closed at $9.51, losing 49 cents with 74,519 shares. Proven Investments US ordinary shares lost 1 cent US and closed at 23 US cents with 174,932 units, 138 Student Living variable rate preference share traded 500 units at $5.68, Jamaica Money market Brokers 7.5% preference share closed at $1.85 with 61,500 units being exchanged and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share closed with 448,000 shares at $1.15.

 

NCB’s eye-popping $1,200 in 5 years

$100,000 invested in NCB would be worth $1.3 million in 5 years if price rose to $1,200 per share.

“Unless something changes, NCB Financial Group is the best buy on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and will be for the next 5 years. My exit price? $1,200!” That is a recent quote from a seasoned financial analyst.
That is astounding, for a stock that traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange just below $90 this past week and around $95 on the Trinidad market and was selling at $19 at the start of 2015. To reach $1,200 in 5 years, would require growth in profits averaging close to 30 percent per annum and the PE ratio rising to match that growth rate. If that were to  happen it would mean that $100,000 invested now in the stock, would be worth $1,348,314 in 5 years.
How possible is that? First with interest rates receding to lower levels than they have been recently and seems poised to fall some more, PE ratios for stocks will increase. Not only will they increase but demand will increase for good quality stocks that are enjoying robust growth.
NCB delivered net profit of $14.7 billion for the nine months to June, this year, an increase of 48 percent over the prior year’s nine months profit of $9.9 billion. In the June quarter, profit grew 33 percent over 2016. Loans, the major fuel for growth in profits, increased a very strong 18 percent, year over year, in an economy that is probably growing around 2 percent in real terms.

Sagicor should be watched for strong gains over the next 5 years.

If growth were to pick up, and that seems likely, with several major projects on the drawing board to commence sooner than later, with some already started, then lending could picked up even more, boosting profit in the process.
In this regard, investors should not ignore Sagicor Group that reported profit jumping 31 percent to $5.65 billion, for the six months to June this year over 2016, with a 5 percent rise in revenues to $30.36 billion and was negatively affected by realized losses on securities that were sold. In the June quarter revenues slipped to $15.1 billion from $15.29 billion in 2016, as net investment income dropped from $5.55 billion to $4.24 billion, but net profit increased from $2.4 billion to $3.06 billion. While growth in insurance premium is important to fuel continued gains in profit, it is the ability to manage the investment funds effectively that will generate the growth that will make the stock price move.
Sagicor not only has the life assurance arm, but a commercial bank as well, health insurance and manages pension and other funds and a property development and management division.
Interestingly, these two companies are heavy dividend payers, investors stand to gain from sharply higher dividend income if the profit continue to grow close to current levels.

Watch impact of interest rate cut

Lower interest rates make real assets more valuable than before, as such the biggest change to stocks this coming week may well be guided by the recent cut in interest rates, with Treasury bill rates falling and the Bank of Jamaica cutting its overnight rate by 25 basis points.
At the close of last week, Caribbean Cream closed at $6.20 and helped to return it to the TOP 10 list, replacing Lasco Financial with its price rising to $4 from $3.40.
There were no other change to the two listings at the close of the week, even as the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed to week at record new high. For the coming week the cut in interest rates by Bank of Jamaica as well as a fall in the most recent Treasury rates could well positively impact prices.
The average PE ratio for the Junior Market Top stocks is at 7.5 and the PE for the main market TOP 10, ends the week at 7.3. The average PE for the overall main market trades at 13.6 and 13.3 for Junior Market, based on 2017 estimated earnings.
At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 44 percent to the average of the market for Junior Market Top stocks and it remains at 46 percent for the main market.

Main market stocks at record close – Friday

Supreme Ventures closed at record high of $10 on Friday.

Shares of Jamaica’s gaming company, Supreme Ventures hit a new high of $10 at the close of trading on Friday and helped push Jamaica Stock Exchange main market to a new high on Friday, following Thursday’s record close.
At the close of trading on Friday, the All Jamaica Composite Index advanced 106.76 points to end at a record close at 278,760.18, the JSE Market Index rose 97.27 points to a record close of
and the JSE US dollar market index ended 3.84 points higher to 184.03.
At the close of trading, 26 securities changed hands in the main market with 2 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 11 stocks advancing and 13 declining. The main market ended with 2,197,630 units valued at $56,139,038 changing hands compared to 4,236,294 units valued at $109,212,854 at the close on Thursday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 82,203 units valued at US$31,069 bringing the total of all trades to J $60,115,919.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading ended at 8 to 1.
The main market ended trading with an average of 84,524 units valued at $2,159,194 for each security traded compared to an average of 184,187 units valued at $4,748,385. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at $187,499 units with an average value of $3,987,261 compared with an average of $193,935 units with an average value of $4,101,515 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for July ended at 160,668 units with an average value of $2,691,438.
At the close of the market, the last traded prices of securities and volume changing hands are, Barita Investments with a loss of 10 cents, to close at $11 with 900 shares, Berger Paints ending at $15.75, after falling 40 cents with 7,041 shares, Cable and Wireless added 1 cent to $1.15 with 14,200 shares, Caribbean Cement dropping $2.50 to $27.50 with 2,589 shares, Carreras slipping 39 cents, to close at $107.99 with 8,582 shares, Grace Kennedy traded 50 cents higher to $41.50 with 33,114 shares. Jamaica Broilers with gains of 56 cents, ended at $17.61 with 210,036 shares, Jamaica Producers fell 50 cents to close at $16.50 with 18,317 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange closing at $6, with a loss of 19 cents trading 4,905 shares, JMMB Group lost 50 cents to close at $21 with 523,305 shares. Kingston Properties closed at $8 with 3,014 shares, Kingston Wharves finished 71 cents lower to $30.79 with 1,000 shares, Mayberry Investments closed at $4.50 with 162,111 shares, NCB Financial Group climbed $1 to $88.99, with 242,433 shares, 1834 Investments inched higher by 5 cents to $1.40, trading 12,717 shares, PanJam Investment concluded trading at $32.95, falling 5 cents with 11,536 shares. Pulse Investments climbed 25 cents to $2.05 with 100 shares, Radio Jamaica lost 10 cents to end at $1.20 with 285,000 shares, Sagicor Group climbed 50 cents, to $31.50 with 109,676 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund dropped 8 cents to $11.98 trading 6,028 shares, Scotia Group closed $1.85 lower to $45.10 with 235,195 shares, Seprod traded 27,869 shares at $29.75, Supreme Ventures climbed to a record high of $10, gaining $1.20 with 30,246 shares. Proven Investments US ordinary shares gained 1 cent US and closed at 24 US cents with 69,200 units, JMMB Group US 6% preference share traded 2 US cents higher to US$1.12 with 13,003 units, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.5% preference share declined 14 cents to $1.85 with 142,500 units, JMMB Group 7.25% preference share closed at $1.50, losing 10 cents with 239 units and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share closed with 104,977 shares at $1.15.

Huge gains push JSE to record high – Thursday

Main market indices of the Jamaica Stock Exchange made huge gains in trading on Thursday, to close at new record highs.
The All Jamaica Composite Index surged 6,467.89 points to a record close of 278,653.42, as the market recovered from near 5,000 points drop on Wednesday. The JSE Market Index leapt 5,892.98 points to a record close of 253,884.83, bettering the record reached August 10 for both indices. The JSE US dollar market index declined 3.84 points to 180.19.
At the close of trading, 23 securities changed hands in the main market with 2 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 11 stocks advancing and 8 declining. The main market ended with 4,236,294 units valued at $109,212,854 changing hands compared to 12,794,782 units valued at $308,295,023 at the close on Wednesday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 26,814 units valued at US$7,765 bringing the total of all trades to J$110,206,772.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 11 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 7 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 184,187 units valued at $4,748,385 for each security traded compared to an average of 473,881 units valued at $11,418,334. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at $193,935 units with an average value of $4,101,515 compared with an average of $194,585 units with an average value of $4,058,391 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for July ended at 160,668 units with an average value of $2,691,438.
At the close of the market, the last traded prices of securities and volume changing hands are, Berger Paints closing at $16.15 after gaining 15 cents with 1,658 shares, Cable and Wireless lost 1 cent to close at $1.14 with 78,544 shares, Caribbean Cement rising $1.51 to $30 with 40,298 shares, Carreras with a loss of 40 cents to $107.60 with 128,994 shares, Grace Kennedy traded 50 cents higher to $41 with 333,520 shares. Jamaica Broilers finished with a loss of 45 cents at $17.05 with 502,272 shares, Jamaica Producers advanced by $1 to $17 with 2,297,691 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $6.19 with gains of 49 cents trading 7,551 shares, JMMB Group gained 50 cents to close at $21.50 with 37,534 shares. Kingston Properties closed at $8 with 1,250 shares, Kingston Wharves climbed $2 to $31.50 with only 800 shares, Mayberry Investments rose 32 cents to $4.50 with 20,438 shares, NCB Financial Group traded $1.99 higher to $87.99 with 252,941 shares, 138 Student Living closed at $5.15 trading 7,850 shares, PanJam Investment closed at $33 with 32,820 shares, Portland JSX lost 11 cents, closing at $9.30 with 200 shares. Pulse Investments ended with a loss of 40 cents at $1.80 with 7,800 shares, Radio Jamaica traded 234,820 shares at $1.30, Sagicor Group fell by 60 cents, closing at $31 with 42,184 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund added 1 cent to close at $12.06 in trading 11,185 shares, Scotia Group gained 45 cents and closed at $46.95 with 56,384 shares, Seprod lost 25 cents to close at $29.75 with 56,860 shares, Supreme Ventures held firm at $8.80 with 82,070 shares. Proven Investments US ordinary shares lost US 1 cent and closed at 23 US cents with 25,097 units and JMMB Group US 6% preference share traded at US$1.10 with 1,717 units.

JSE prices drop sharply – Wednesday

The main market indices of the Jamaica Stock Exchange dropped sharply on Wednesday. The All Jamaica Composite Index dived 4,980.99 points to 272,185.53, the JSE Market Index dropped 4,538.24 points to 247,991.85 while the JSE US dollar market index rose 6.51 points to 184.03.
At the close of trading, 27 securities changed hands in the main market with 1 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 10 stocks advancing and 7 declining. The main market ended with 12,794,782 units valued at $308,295,023 changing hands compared to 1,806,656 units valued at $31,094,257 at the close on Tuesday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 300,000 units valued at US$71,995.17 bringing the total of all trades to J$317,510,404.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 7 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 473,881 units valued at $11,418,334 for each security traded compared to an average of 82,121 units valued at $1,413,375. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at $194,585 units with an average value of $4,058,391 compared with an average of $174,635 units with an average value of $3,532,680 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for July ended at 160,668 units with an average value of $2,691,438.
At the close of the market, the last traded prices of securities and volume traded are: Barita Investments with 8,593 shares closing at $11.10, Cable and Wireless falling 5 cents to close at $1.15 with 360,547 shares, Caribbean Cement with a loss of 46 cents to end at $28.49 with 41,516 units. Carreras held firm at $108 with 361,378 shares, Grace Kennedy traded $1.49 lower to $40.50 with 1,509,528 shares, Jamaica Broilers rose 50 cents to $17.50 with 1,513,181 stock units, Jamaica Producers jumped $2 to $16 with 1,572,555 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $5.70 with a loss of 77 cents trading 874,717 shares, JMMB Group fell 20 cents to $21 with 782,429 stock units. Kingston Properties gained 80 cents to close at $8 with 5,729 shares, Kingston Wharves ended at $29.50 with 2,000 shares, Mayberry Investments inched up by 9 cents to $4.18 with 4,000 units, NCB Financial Group dropped $3 to $86 with 1,026,736 shares, 1834 Investments closed with a 1 cent gain at $1.35, trading 5,500 shares, PanJam Investment closed at $33 with 9,606 shares, Portland JSX added 11 cents to finish at $9.41 with 789,000 shares. Pulse Investments gained 25 cents to $2.20 with 1,000 shares, Radio Jamaica closed with a loss of 5 cents at $1.30 with 17,096 shares, Sagicor Group added 10 cents in closing at $31.60 with 103,700 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund lost 1 cent to conclude trading at $12.05 while exchanging 3,995 units, Salada Foods closed at $10 with 2,000 shares, Scotia Group gained 50 cents and closed at $46.50 with 169,559 shares, Seprod remained at $30 with 15,925 shares, Sterling Investments traded at $14 with 7,000 shares, Supreme Ventures held firm at $8.80 with 3,589,118 shares. Proven Investments US ordinary shares gained US 1 cent and closed at 24 US cents with 300,000 units, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.5% preference share closed at $1.99 with 13,791 shares and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share lost 1 cent to close at $1.15 with 4,583 shares.

JSE main market rises on Tuesday

Trading closed on main market stocks of the Jamaica Stock Exchange with gains in the indices up to 1,000 points but with the stocks rising equalling those declining at on Tuesday.
The All Jamaica Composite Index advanced 1,030.80 points to close at 277,166.52, the JSE Market Index gained 939.17 points to 252,530.09 and the JSE US dollar market index declined 0.98 points to 177.52.
At the close of trading, 22 securities changed hands in the main market with 1 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 9 stocks advancing and 9 declining. The main market ended with 1,806,656 units valued at $31,094,257 changing hands compared to 2,163,104 units valued at $46,639,859 at the close on Monday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 104,517 units valued at US$24,043 bringing the total of all trades to J$34,171,703.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 5 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 82,121 units valued at $1,413,375 for each security traded compared to an average of 83,196 units valued at $1,793,841. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at $174,635 units with an average value of $3,532,680 compared with an average of 181,752 units with an average value of $3,695,704 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for July ended at 160,668 units with an average value of $2,691,438.
The last price at close of the market and the volume of securities traded are, Barita Investments declining 15 cents to $11.10 with 7,675 shares, Berger Paints closing 95 cents lower to $16 with 6,159 units, Cable and Wireless lost 7 cents to close at $1.20 with 102,613 shares, Caribbean Cement ended at $28.95 with 15,949 stock units,Carreras held firm at $108 with 37,181 shares, Grace Kennedyclimbing $2.98 higher to $41.99 with 6,361 units. Jamaica Broilers with a loss of 50 cents, to $17 with 433,797 shares, Jamaica Producers declined 98 cents to $14 with 55,760 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $6.47 with 2,957 stock units, JMMB Group closing with a loss of 30 cents to $21.30 with 109,395 shares. Kingston Wharves ended at $29.50 with 340 shares, Mayberry Investments gained 3 cents to $4.09 with 192,037 shares, NCB Financial Group declined 10 cents to $89 with 58,746 shares, PanJam Investment advanced $1.40 to $33 with 9,000 shares and Portland JSX closed at $9.30 with 10,600 shares. Radio Jamaica gained 5 cents to close at $1.35 with 2,240 shares, Sagicor Group traded 50 cents higher to $31.50 with 33,696 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund with a 1 cent gain to $12.06 exchanging 41,250 shares, Scotia Group climbed 97 cents to $46 with 33,173 shares, Seprod gained 16 cents to close at $30 with 165 shares, Sterling Investments traded 70 cents higher to $14 with 22,100 shares, Supreme Ventures ended with a loss of 20 cents to $8.80 with 624,922 shares. Proven Investments US ordinary shares lost US 1 cent and closed at 23 US cents with 104,517 units.

JMMB pretax profit up 16%

JMMB Group profits up 16% before tax to June.

JMMB Group posted a 16 percent increase in pretax profit, for the June 2017 quarter over 2016, but increased taxation left shareholders with a much smaller 4 percent increase to $617 million, as taxes climbed from $264 million to $381 million.
Net revenues jumped 19.4 percent to $4.1 billion from $3.44 billion in 2016, operating expenses rose even faster at 20.5 percent to $3.1 billion. Net interest income improved noticeably, moving from $1.55 to $1.9 billion as interest income grew to $1.96 billion, from $3.62 billion and cost fell modestly to $2.04 billion. Gains from securities trading rose to $1.54 billion from $1.1 billion but with revaluation of the Jamaican dollar, the group earned $238 million in the quarter, down from $443 million as the group also benefited from one off gains in 2016.
The Jamaican operations contributed 23 percent to growth in operating revenues, putting it at 75 percent of overall group revenues while Trinidad with its economic challenges, remained flat with just a one percent increase and Dominican Republic generated an increase of 18 percent.
Growth in managing pension funds, unit trust and money market funds, with assets under management moving from $89.5 billion in June 2016 to $114.75 billion helped in moving fee income up from $298 million to $364 million over the same period.
The group gained commercial banking license approval in Jamaica, in the September quarter, started to convert some branches to accommodate the new thrust and were also preparing for the roll out of their pension fund management in the Dominican Republic.
Total assets grew from $252 billion to $268 billion between March this year and June, shareholders’ equity moved from $25.9 billion to $26.8 billion including $2 billion in investment revaluation reserves at June this year, lending was almost static at $48 billion versus $47 at March. Investment in resale agreements stood at $173.8 billion versus March’s $172.5 billion. Customers’ deposits rose to $50.87 billion from $49 billion in March, while securities sold under repurchase agreements stood at $169.5 billion, up from $156.6 billion as of March, representing a fairly significant increase of $14 billion in just one quarter.
On Monday, JMMB Group closed at $21.50 on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and TT$1.20 (J$22.80) in Trinidad on Monday. IC Insider.com projects earnings of $3 for 2017 up from $2.03 as of March this year, putting the PE at 7 times the March 2018 earnings. The stock continues to be IC Insider.com BUY RATED.

Supreme Ventures profit jumps 41%

Supreme Ventures’ profit rose sharply for the 2017 half year.

Investors responded to strong increase in profit for the six months to June, for Supreme Ventures, by pushing the stock to a record high of $9 on Monday.
Profit surged 41 percent, from $649 million to $918 million after tax, with second quarter profit jumping by a lesser 34 percent to $502 million, from $374 million in 2016. The results translate to earnings per share of 35 cents for the half year and 19 cents for the quarter. The numbers suggest full year earnings of 75 cents, with the stock trading on Monday at $9, it now parades a PE of 12, sitting at the middle of main market listings, but just below the market’s average of 13. Cash flow generated from operations, amounted to just over $1.3 billion for the six months from which $607 million in dividend was paid. $356 million was paid for acquisition of fixed assets after the receipt loan funding of $380 million.
The group reported strong increase in revenues, up 27.5 percent to $14 billion for the quarter and 23.5 percent to $27.4 billion for the six months. The 2017 second quarter figures include revenues for Caymanas Park that was acquired earlier in the year.
Direct cost rose 27 percent in the June quarter, to $12.47 billion and 24 percent year to date to $24.63 billion and operating expenses moved up 29.7 percent to $842 million for the quarter as the cost of the horseracing operations impact cost and 7.3 percent to $1.5 billion for the half year.
The new Caymanas Park horseracing operations brought in revenues of $1.76 billion for the six months period and contributed a loss of $105 million. In the first quarter racing brought in revenues of $328 million and a loss of $19 million. Interestingly, the gaming operations that was a big loss maker in past years contributed $15 million in profit, up from $777,000 in 2016 but down from a profit of $21.4 million in the first quarter, while the Sports betting loss was contained to $34 million, down sharply from $115 million in 2016, but much worse than the loss of $9.5 million in quarter one.
The financial position at June saw total assets of $6.5 billion, including cash of $2.27 billion and non- current assets of $3.17 billion. Shareholders’ equity stood $4 billion and interest bearing debt at debt, at just under $500 million.

Supreme Ventures hits new high – Monday

Supreme Ventures closed at a new all-time high of $9.

Stocks rose modestly on the Jamaica Stock Exchange leading the market indices rising around 100 point continuing the much bigger rise on Friday even as Supreme Ventures closed at an all-time high of $9, after climbing 45 cents in trading 12,960 shares.
Investors were responding to strong increase in profit for the six months to June, moving from $649 million to $918 million.
The All Jamaica Composite Index advanced 101.60 points to close at 276,135.72, the JSE Market Index gained 92.57 points to 251,590.92 and the JSE US dollar market index declined 6.86 points to 178.50.
At the close of trading, 26 securities changed hands in the main market with 3 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 10 stocks advancing and 10 declining. The main market ended with 2,163,104 units valued at $46,639,859 changing hands compared to 7,943,772 units valued at $101,876,271 at the close on Friday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 6,508 units valued at US$1,904 bringing the total of all trades to J$46,883,517.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading was 7 to 1 with 7 stocks closed with bids higher than their last selling prices and 1 with a lower offer.
The main market ended trading with an average of 83,196 units valued at $1,793,841 for each security traded compared to an average of 294,214 units valued at $3,773,195. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 181,752 units with an average value of $3,695,704 compared with an average of 187,965 units with an average value of $3,854,192 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for July ended at 160,668 units with an average value of $2,691,438.
At the close of the market, the last traded prices and the volume of securities changing hands are: Barita Investments with a loss of 35 cents, to end at $11.25 with 767 shares, Berger Paints closing $2.45 higher to $16.95 with 19,700 shares, Cable and Wireless gaining 7 cents to $1.27 with 549,196 shares, Caribbean Cement with gains of 45 cents, ended at $28.95 with 16,055 shares, Carreras held firm at $108 with 41,241 shares, Grace Kennedy falling $2.04 to $39.01 with 262,645 shares. Jamaica Broilers rising $1.29, to $17.50 with 247,206 shares, Jamaica Producers climbing $1.23, to $14.98 with 47,619 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange closing at $6.47 with 28,865 shares. JMMB Group continues inn strong demand following the 604,000 shares traded on Friday with an exchange of 332,817 shares to finish at $21.50. In other main market activity, Kingston Wharves closed at $29.50, losing 50 cents with 123,007 shares trading, Mayberry Investments fell 11 cents, to $4.06 with 3,117 shares, NCB Financial Group declined $1.85 to $89.10 with 54,845 shares, 1834 Investments closed at $1.34 with 30,000 shares, PanJam Investment closed at $31.60, losing $1.40 with 2,100 shares and Portland JSX gained 5 cents, to end at $9.30 with 1,200 shares. Pulse Investments rose 1 cent, to $1.95 with 33,620 shares, Radio Jamaica lost 5 cents to $1.30 with 14,702 shares, Sagicor Group traded 75 cents lower, to $31 with 81,938 shares, Sagicor Real Estate fund closed at $12.05, losing 1 cent in trading 10,525 shares, Salada Foods gained 50 cents to close at $10 with 250 shares, Scotia Group declined $1.96 to $45.03 with 130,119 shares, Scotia Investments traded 50 cents higher to $35.51 with 4,500 shares, Seprod gained 9 cents to close at $29.84 with 6,210 shares. Proven Investments US ordinary share gained 1 US cent to end at 24 US cents with 5,663 units, Margaritaville Turks US ordinary share lost 3 US cents, to 30 US cents with 421 units, JMMB Group US 6% preference share closed at US$1.10 with 424 units and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.5% preference share closed at $1.99 with 107,900 units.