The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange plunged on Tuesday and gave by all of the 70 points gains on Monday and those for last week Thursday and Friday, with trading plunging from Monday’s levels with the volume of stocks traded dropping 69 percent and the value declining 74 percent below the level on Monday. Market activity led to trading in 46 securities, equal to Monday and ended with prices of just nine rising, 28 declining and nine closing unchanged.
The market closed with trading of 6,318,830 shares for $12,174,798, steeply down from 20,549,503 units at $46,764,453 on Monday.
Trading averaged 137,366 shares at $264,670, well below the 446,728 stocks at $1,016,619 on Monday, compared to and March with an average of 307,021 shares with a value of $759,432.
Jamaican Teas led trading with 1.85 million shares for 29.3 percent of the total volume, followed by Dolla Financial, which ended with 907,116 stock units for 14.4 percent of the day’s trade and JFP Ltd with 372,308 stocks for 5.9 percent of the volume traded.
At the close of trading, the Junior Market Index sank 138.45 points to finish at 3,535.49. The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows two stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and six with lower offers.
The Junior Market ended trading with an average PE Ratio of 14.5, based on last traded prices in conjunction with earnings projected by ICInsider.com for financial years ending around August 2025.
At the close of the market, Access Financial popped $1.02 to finish at $17.42 with 675 shares changing hands, AMG Packaging rallied 38 cents and ended at $3.10 with a transfer of 143 stock units, CAC 2000 dipped 50 cents to close at $2.15 after an exchange of 1,172 stocks. Caribbean Assurance Brokers rose by 10 cents in closing at $2.88 with investors dealing in 109,086 shares, Derrimon Trading sank 11 cents to close at $1.89 with 310,090 stock units switching owners, Dolla Financial skidded 9 cents to end at $2.56 with traders dealing in 907,116 shares. Dolphin Cove climbed 39 cents in closing at $16.50 with 10,685 stocks crossing the market, EduFocal lost 5 cents to close at 28 cents in trading 372,255 units, Fontana declined 6 cents and ended at $9.43 with 64,064 stock units passing through the market. Fosrich fell 7 cents to end at $2.73 with investors swapping 83,366 shares, Future Energy dropped 11 cents to close at $3.19 with an exchange of 203,913 stock units, GWest Corporation sank 14 cents to finish at $1.10 after investors ended trading 4,000 units. Honey Bun rose 9 cents and ended at $7.99 with 822 stocks crossing the exchange, Image Plus slipped 9 cents to $1.12 with investors trading 323,126 shares, Indies Pharma shed 7 cents to end at $4.10 with 93,565 stock units. Iron Rock Insurance dropped 30 cents in closing at $3.60 after an exchange of 4,059 stocks, Jamaican Teas shed 30 cents to close at $2.49 with investors trading 1,849,686 units, Jetcon Corporation advanced 5 cents to finish at $1.20 in an exchange of 11,000 shares. Knutsford Express declined 33 cents and ended at $14.16 with 1,526 units crossing the market, Limners and Bards sank 11 cents to $1.08, with investors exchanging 148,502 stocks, Lumber Depot gained 6 cents to close at a 52 weeks; high of $3.05 after a transfer of 56,791 stock units. Main Event dipped $2.68 to finish at $9.31 with 9,549 shares being transferred, Medical Disposables lost 26 cents to end at $1.49 in an exchange of 400 units, Omni Industries slipped 11 cents in closing at 91 cents with investors dealing in 229,671 stocks. Regency Petroleum fell 30 cents to $3.30 with 16,805 stock units crossing the exchange and Stationery and Office Supplies skidded 5 cents in closing at $1.59 in trading 26,433 shares.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
The JSE Combined Market Index sank 4,245.54 points to 337,769.85, as the All Jamaican Composite Index dropped 4,984.16 points to 378,196.07, the JSE Main Index declined 3,402.63 points to wrap up trading at 326,701.66, the Junior Market Index sank 138.45 points to end at 3,535.49 and the JSE USD Market Index skidded 8.51 points to 216.33.
The market’s PE ratio, the most popular measure used to value stocks, ended at 12.8 based on 2024-25 earnings and 20.2 based on 2024 historical earnings. The ICInsider.com PE ratio chart and the other more detailed daily charts provide investors with regularly updated information to help decision-making. The PE ratio chart covers all ordinary shares listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, grouped by industry, allowing for easy comparisons within a sector and the overall market. The earnings per share (EPS) and PE ratios are based on 2024 and 2025 actual or projected earnings, excluding any major one time income or expense.
The market closed with 35,403,032 shares trading for $428,792,197, down from 211,546,624 stock units at $4,258,930,941 on Friday.
The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 16 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and none with a lower offer.
Fosrich, Gwest Corporation, Indies Pharma, Jamaican Teas as well as Regency Petroleum all closed at 52 weeks’ highs. ISP Finance ended at a 52 weeks’ closing low and Paramount Trading hit a 52 weeks’ intraday low of 80 cents.
The Junior Market ended trading with an average PE Ratio of 14.9, based on last traded prices in conjunction with earnings projected by ICInsider.com for financial years ending around August 2025.
The market closed with an exchange of 815,187 shares for US$28,912 compared to 386,163 stocks at US$29,928 on Friday.
Since 2010, around 60 companies have listed shares on the JSE with new shares to the public. The vast majority of them split the shares to facilitate meeting the JSE rules or for greater liquidity of the shares. One would have thought that qualified accountants would by now be fully conversant in computing the correct number of shares and the average where applicable, thus computing the correct earnings per share. That is not the case. The JSE gets and vets financial reports and is clueless about what is happening with many of the financial reports put out by companies. If they did, they would not allow Omni Industries to report critical information that is incorrect in their financials for three quarters without revisions, now the audited statements have also incorrectly reported it.
The critical factor is that the earnings per share are overstated. This is crucial as many investors use EPS to value stocks. The market average is now around 15 2024 earnings, so at 9 cents, some may consider the stock to be undervalued at 94 cents, it traded today. If the correct EPS of 5 cents is used, the stock would be valued at nearly 21 times 2024 earnings and is well above the market average, too vastly different pictures.
The JSE Combined Market Index surged by 4,678.69 points to end at 342,015.39, the All Jamaican Composite Index jumped 5,173.84 points to end at 383,180.23, the JSE Main Index climbed 4,365.05 points to finish at 330,104.29, the Junior Market Index popped 70.39 points to end trading at 3,673.94 and the JSE USD Market Index declined 2.04 points to 224.84.
The market’s PE ratio, a frequently used measure to value stocks, ended at 15 based on 2024-25 earnings and 20.7 using 2024 historical earnings. The ICInsider.com PE ratio chart and the other more detailed daily charts provide investors with regularly updated information to help decision-making. The PE ratio chart covers all the ordinary shares on the Jamaica Stock Exchange and are grouped by industry, allowing investors to made easy comparisons within a sector and the overall market. The earnings per share (EPS) and PE ratios are based on 2024 and 2025 actual or projected earnings, excluding any major one time income or expense.
The market closed with trading of 11,738,756 shares for $19,977,567 compared with 13,245,591 units at $24,563,567 on Thursday.
At the close, Access Financial climbed 16 cents to close at $16.55 with investors dealing in just 264 stock units, Blue Power dipped 49 cents to $5.10 after an exchange of 3,259 stocks, CAC 2000 rose 16 cents in closing at $2.65 with 2,745 shares crossing the market. Cargo Handlers rallied 74 cents to end at $11.24 after a transfer of 328 stock units, Caribbean Assurance Brokers popped 14 cents to finish at $2.78 in switching ownership of 3,450 shares, Caribbean Cream gained 17 cents and ended at $2.60 with 5,348 units crossing the market. Dolla Financial sank 15 cents to $2.60 with an exchange of 189,474 stocks, Dolphin Cove increased $1.39 and ended at $17.49 after 8,541 stock units passed through the market, Elite Diagnostic advanced 9 cents to close at $1.60 with a transfer of 14,289 shares. Fontana dropped 7 cents to finish at $9.43 after an exchange of 72,755 units, Fosrich rose 5 cents to end at $2.45 with investors trading 691,177 stocks, GWest Corporation rallied 13 cents in closing at $1.09 in an exchange of 185,169 stock units. Indies Pharma increased 17 cents to $3.83 with 111,394 shares changing hands, 
The market closed with trading of 211,546,624 shares for $4,258,930,941, up from 197,123,972 stock units at $470,952,289 on Thursday.
The All Jamaican Composite Index popped 1,461.32 points to conclude trading at 378,006.39; at the same time, the JSE Main Index climbed 1,254.58 points to close at 325,739.24 and the JSE Financial Index rallied 0.62 points to end trading at 68.07.