Stocks slipped to open up the new year on a losing note when the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed trading on Tuesday, with investors displaying restraint in chasing or exchanging stocks as the volume of stocks traded declined 68 percent with 70 percent less value than on Friday after all, but one security traded amounting to 47 up from 43 on Friday and ended with 14 rising, 26 declining and seven closing unchanged.
A total of 7,078,901 shares were traded for $20,254,759 down from 22,282,537 units at $68,002,755 on Friday.
Trading averaged 150,615 shares at $430,952 compared to 518,199 units at $1,581,459 on Friday. December closed with an average of 333,420 units at $925,533.
Regency Petroleum led trading with 1.64 million shares for 23.1 percent of total volume followed by Fosrich with 824,214 units for 11.6 percent of the day’s trade and ONE on ONE Educational with 682,021 units for 9.6 percent market share.
At the close, the Junior Market Index lost 38.19 points to settle at 3,948.25.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 12.6. The PE ratios of Junior Market stocks incorporate ICInsider.com projected earnings for the financial year ending that fall between November this year and August 2023.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close, Access Financial dropped $4 to $22, with 661 shares changing hands, AMG Packaging fell 39 cents to close at $2.66, with 4,897 stock units crossing the market, CAC 2000 shed $1.73 in ending at $6.75 in an exchange of 8 units. Caribbean Assurance Brokers dropped 28 cents to $1.88 after a transfer of 228,886 stocks, Caribbean Cream lost 14 cents to end at $3.86 trading 1,023 stocks, Consolidated Bakeries dipped 10 cents to $1.70 with an exchange of 1,176 stock units. 
Derrimon Trading fell 14 cents to $2.11 with the swapping of 254,671 units, Dolphin Cove popped $1.88 to close at $14.88 in trading 16,694 shares, Express Catering climbed 20 cents in closing at $5.40 after 22,124 stock units passed through the market. Future Energy Source dipped 30 cents to end at $5.20 with an exchange of458,046 shares, General Accident gained 66 cents to end at $5.07 as investors exchanged 110,279 stocks, Honey Bun declined 79 cents to close at $7.20 after exchanging 7,733 units. iCreate advanced 26 cents to $1.93 in switching ownership of 103,986 shares, Indies Pharma dropped 52 cents to $3, with 7,327 stock units crossing the market, JFP Ltd lost 10 cents in closing at $1.67 while exchanging 204,535 stocks. Knutsford Express shed 70 cents to close at $8, with 5,886 units clearing the market, Lasco Distributors rallied 10 cents in closing at $2.60 after exchanging 186,868 units, Medical Disposables rose 48 cents to end at $5.28 with investors transferring 385 shares. Spur Tree Spices shed 46 cents to $3.04 with an exchange of 57,994 stocks,
Stationery and Office Supplies dropped 65 cents to end at $16.50 after finishing trading of 129,446 stock units, Tropical Battery increased 15 cents to close at $2.45 with a transfer of 607,278 stocks and tTech declined 30 cents in closing at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.20 after exchanging 31,563 stock units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Trading ended, with an exchange of 16,287,615 shares from 205,547,234 units on Friday, with a value dropping sharply to $87.4 million down from $1.62 billion on the previous trading day. The JSE USD market ended with the value of stocks traded amounting to US$11,129 up from US$5,053 on Friday.
The ICInsider.com PE ratio chart and the more detailed daily report charts provide investors with regularly updated information to help decision-making.
Main and Junior Markets’ daily report charts that show the closing volume for the bids and offers.
with the market index gaining just two percent at its peak in mid-May after which the JSE Main Index dropped 10.2 percent for the year as Bank of Jamaica pushed interest rates higher during the year.
NCB Financial despite profit jumping sharply over that of 2021. The group recorded huge unrealised investment losses net of gains that wiped out the traditionally reported profit of $40 billion and left a deficit of $7.6 billion for the fiscal year that reduced shareholders’ equity from $161.5 billion to $149.5 billion, and resulted in continued dividend suspension, that may have encouraged more pressure on the stock than usual. Massy Holdings and VM Investments both declined by 35 percent for the year. 1834 Investments was the top stock resulting from its acquisition by Radio Jamaica, productive Business Solutions delivered gains of 64 percent, followed by Supreme Ventures, with 62 percent, both flowing from solid increases in profit for the period to September last year.
The above combination took its toll on Jamaica’s largest commercial banking group, that fell the most in Trinidad Stock Exchange, even as Cinema One climbed nearly 100 percent.
The worst performer is Jamaica based NCB Financial Group, with a fall of 44 percent, followed by Jamaica’s GraceKennedy, down 27 percent and cigarette manufacturers West Indian Tobacco, with a decline of 44 percent as the company posted lower profits of $209 million in the nine months to September than it did in 2021, with $270 million with the third quarter falling to $56 million from $83 million in 2021 as sales fell from $200 million in the September quarter to $165 million in 2022 and $549 million for the nine months compared with $610 million in 2021.
Junior Market action resulted in Caribbean Cream popping 19 percent to $4, followed by Caribbean Assurance with a 9 percent rise to $2.16, Tropical Battery chipped in with a 7 percent increase to $2.30 and Paramount Trading rose 5 percent to $1.99. General Accident was the biggest loser with a fall of 12 percent to $4.41, Lasco Distributors slipped 8 percent to $2.50 and Lasco Manufacturing declined 6 percent to $3.95.
At the end of the week, the average PE for the JSE Main Market TOP 10 is 5.6, well below the market average of 15.3, while the Junior Market Top 10 PE sits at 6.2 versus the market at 12.9, important indicators of the level of the undervaluation of the ICTOP10 stocks. The Junior Market is projected to rise by 228 percent and the Main Market TOP10, an average now of 269 percent, to May 2023.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners, accordingly, the list includes some of the best companies in the market but not always. ICInsider.com ranks stocks based on projected earnings, allowing investors to focus on the most undervalued stocks and helping to remove emotions in selecting stocks for investments that often result in costly mistakes.
Overall, 350,984 shares were traded for US$5,053 compared to 758,093 units at US$42,021 on Thursday.
Proven Investments shed 0.3 cents to end at 19 US cents in switching owners of 7,837 stocks, Sterling Investments rose 0.13 of a cent after ending at 2.13 US cents with the swapping of 183 stock units, Transjamaican Highway gained 0.08 of a cent in ending at 0.98 of one US cent, with 342,741 stocks crossing the market.
At the close, 60 securities traded compared to 58 on Thursday, with 28 rising, 16 declining and 16 ending unchanged and resulting in an exchange of 182,913,713 shares valued at $1,549,169,032 versus 10,927,858 units at $93,761,610 on Thursday, with Kingston Properties chipping in with 136 million shares carrying a value of $1.05 billion.
Trading averaged 3,048,562 shares at $25,819,484, up from 188,411 units at $1,615,711 on Thursday and month to date, an average of 604,110 units at $4,071,008, compared with 467,038 stocks at $2,851,468 on the previous day. November closed with an average of 202,406 units at $1,736,493.
At the close, Barita Investments rose $2.51 to close at $102.51 with the swapping of 2,560,121 shares, Berger Paints gained $1.40 in closing at $10.60 after exchanging two stock units, Caribbean Cement gained $1.99 to $61.99 while exchanging 187,977 units. Eppley declined $1.45 to end at $38.53, with 140 stocks crossing the market, Eppley Caribbean Property Fund climbed $3.42 to $50, with a transfer of 317,335 stocks, GraceKennedy rallied $2 in closing at $84 with an exchange of 129,287 stock units. Guardian Holdings shed $65 to end at $570, with 406 shares crossing the exchange, Jamaica Producers popped 90 cents to $22.90 in an exchange of 42,592 units, Kingston Properties advanced $1.45 in ending at $8.50, with 136,036,412 shares clearing the market. Kingston Wharves climbed $3.66 to close at $3, with 161,557 units changing hands, Mayberry Investments popped $1.21 to close at $10.05 with investors exchanging 236,867 stocks, Mayberry Jamaican Equities dipped 47 cents in closing at $13.51 as 30,300 stock units passed through the market. MPC Caribbean Clean Energy lost $2 to end at $81 after trading 164 units, Palace Amusement advanced $2 to $1499 in trading 1,198 stock units, Portland JSX rallied 90 cents to $11 as investors exchanged 12,027 stocks. Proven Investments rose 85 cents to $27 and closed with 511 shares changing hands, Radio Jamaica gained 50 cents in ending at $2.60 in an exchange of 2,016,480 units, Sagicor Group increased $6 in closing at $59 after a transfer of 1,170,151 stock units. 
Sagicor Real Estate Fund rose 60 cents to end at $8.50, with 230,043 stocks crossing the market, Seprod advanced $8 to close at $78 with a transfer of 217,964 shares, Stanley Motta gained $1.29 in ending at $5.30 after trading 142,927 shares and Wisynco Group rose 49 cents to close at $17.99 in switching ownership of 189,234 stock units.
The volume of stocks traded rose 190 percent and the value 242 percent more than on Thursday, with 43 securities trading similar to trading on Thursday and ended with 24 rising, 12 declining and seven closing unchanged.
JFP Ltd ended with 2.74 million units for 12.3 percent of the days’ trade, Spur Tree Spices chipped in with 2.18 million units for 9.8 percent of stocks traded, ONE on ONE Educational ended with 1.94 million units for 8.7 percent market share and Indies Pharma traded 1.66 million units for 7.5 percent of the market.
Consolidated Bakeries rose 10 cents to $1.80 as investors traded 78,110 stocks, Derrimon Trading popped 14 cents in ending at $2.25, with 164,074 shares changing hands, Dolphin Cove dropped $1.98 to $13, with 30,797 units crossing the exchange. Express Catering increased 15 cents to close at $5.20 after 194,582 stocks changed hands, Fontana declined 10 cents to $9 after transferring 145,394 stock units, Fosrich climbed 20 cents to end at $4.20 with the swapping of 1,600,481 stocks. Future Energy Source rose 27 cents in closing at $5.50 with an exchange of 3,284,910 stock units, iCreate fell 27 cents to close at $1.67 in trading 1,155,460 shares, Indies Pharma advanced 39 cents to $3.52 in switching ownership of 1,660,483 units. JFP Ltd increased 14 cents to $1.77 with 2,744,750 shares crossing the market, Lasco Distributors shed 10 cents in closing at $2.50 after 68,844 stock units were exchanged, Limners and Bards gained 12 cents to end at $2.79 trading 677,370 units. 
Medical Disposables climbed 24 cents in closing at $4.80 with a transfer of 4,450 stocks, MFS Capital Partners popped 24 cents to close at $2.84 in an exchange of 487,333 shares, Paramount Trading rallied 14 cents in ending at $1.99 100,000 stock units passed through the market. Regency Petroleum popped 21 cents to $1.69 in exchanging 2,951,679 units, Spur Tree Spices advanced 31 cents to end at $3.50 with 2,183,725 stocks clearing the market, Stationery and Office Supplies climbed $1.16 to $17.15 while exchanging 113,854 shares and tTech dropped 40 cents to end at $2.50 after an exchange of 12,802 stocks.
Trading ended with an exchange of 205,547,234s hares from 19,368,737 units on Thursday, valued at $1.62 billion versus $113.6 million on the previous day. Kingston Properties contributed the most to trading, with 136 million changing hands for $1.05 billion. The JSE USD market ended with the value of stocks traded amounting to US$5,053 up from US$42,021 on Thursday.
Investors need pertinent information to successfully navigate many investment options in the local stock market. The ICInsider.com PE ratio chart and the more detailed daily report charts provide investors with regularly updated information to help decision-making.
Dividends payable and yields for each company are shown in the Main and Junior Markets’ daily report charts that show the closing volume for the bids and offers.
Overall, 758,093 shares were traded for US$42,021 compared with 966,219 units at US$14,629 on Wednesday.
Proven Investments popped 0.15 of a cent to 19.3 US cents trading 23,226 stocks, Sterling Investments dropped 0.18 of a cent to end at 2 US cents in an exchange of 13,256 units and Transjamaican Highway shed 0.07 of a cent after ending at 0.9 of one US cents in trading 304,858 shares.
