The Junior Market made a third attempt in as many days at moving higher in the morning session on of trading on Thursday climbing over 2,470 points but failed to hold on as the market dipped under 2,300 mark just after mid-day and ended, with the market Index dropping 58.46 points to close at 2,379.11, to be down 29 percent for the year.
The market closed with 35 securities changing hands with prices of 11 securities advancing, 12 declining while 11 remained unchanged. The average PE ratio of the Junior Market ended at 8.7 based on 2020-21 earnings. Investors exchanged 24,912,363 units valued at $54,086,454, compared to 115,474,401 units valued at $258,980,019 on Wednesday from 33 companies.
Trading ended with an average of 711,782 units fat $1,545,327 for each security, in contrast to 3,499,224 units for an average of $7,847,879 on Wednesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to units 546,675 valued at $1,193,792 and previously 506,987 units valued at $1,165,701. In contrast, March closed with an average of 226,230 units valued at $542,563 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Blue Power closed trading of 28,383 units, with gains of 29 cents to end at $3.30, Cargo Handlers shed 25 cents in trading 500 units at $5.75, Caribbean Assurance Brokers closed 15 cents higher at $2.45 in exchanging 41,883 stock units. Caribbean Cream exchanged 20,154 shares to close at $2.40, after falling 51 cents, Caribbean Producers lost 5cents to settle at $2.75, with 115,741 shares changing hands, Consolidated Bakeries shed 2 cents in trading of 300 units at $1.52, Derrimon Trading closed 10 cents higher at $2.20, with 2,083,449 stock units changing hands. Dolphin Cove gained $1.50 to end at $7.50, after trading 4,500 shares, Elite Diagnostic exchanged 4,500 shares, after rising 8 cents to end at $3.88, Everything Fresh ended with a loss of 1 cent at 83 cents, with 223,497 stock units changing hands. Express Catering closed 25 cents higher at $3.35, with 8,862 stock units trading, Fontana declined by 3cents to settle at $5.56 with an exchange of 206,230 shares, Honey Bun ended trading with 182,187 shares, after rising 50 cents to finish at $5.50. iCreate ended trading with 43,901 shares, and rose 6 cents to end at 48 cents, 
Jamaican Teas shed 5 cents in trading of 48,718 units at $4.30, Lasco Financial fell by 8 cents in trading of 24,185 units at $2.90. Lasco Manufacturing closed trading of 2,319,260 units and gained 27 cents to end at $3.97, Limners and Bards climbed 21 cents, exchanging 34,694 shares at $2.01, Lumber Depot gained 1 to end at $1.16, trading 180,795 shares. Mailpac Group closed with a loss of 6 cents at $1.69, in swapping of 15,790,186 shares, Main Event shed 40 cents in trading of 13,623 units at $3.85. Medical Disposables declined by $2 to settle at $5.50, in exchanging 300,000 shares, Paramount Trading shed 37 cents in trading of 5,000 units at $2 and Stationery and Office Supplies closed 10 cents higher at $6.10, with 3,500 stock units changing hands.
In the junior market preference segment, CAC 2000 9.5% preference share rose 20 cents to $1 after trading 3,300 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
In comparison, March closed with an average of 226,230 units, valued at $542,563 for each security traded.
Knutsford Express lost 99 cents in swapping 2,198 shares to close at $8, Lasco Distributors finished 1 cent higher at $2.97 with 21,000 stock units trading, Lasco Financial shed 12 cents in the exchange of 5,700 units to close at $2.98. Lasco Manufacturing traded 32,562 shares and gained 15 cents to end at $3.70, Limners and Bards dipped 10 cents to $1.80 in trading of 41,964,069 units, Lumber Depot ended 1 cent higher at $1.15 with 107,917 shares changing hands. MailPac Group exchanged 68,195,556 units and climbed 15 cents to end at $1.75, Main Event rose 25 cents to $4.25 with an exchange of 1,000 shares at $4.25, Medical Disposables climbed 91 cents and traded 30,200 shares to settle at$7.50. SSL Venture closed with a loss of 26 cents at a 52 weeks’ low of 75 cents in the swapping of 5,141 shares and Stationery and Office Supplies closed trading 30 cents higher at $6 with 23,387 units crossing the exchange.
the Main Market, Berger Paints leads the pact, followed by Radio Jamaica and Sygnus Credit Investments with projected gains of 180 to 186 percent.
The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 13 and the Junior Market a mere 9, based on current 2020/21 earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages a just 5.4 with the Main Market at a much higher level of 8.2.
IC TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns to March 2021. Forecasted earnings and PE ratio for the current fiscal year are in determining potential gains. The ranking of stocks is in order of likely increases, with the highest-ranked, being the most attractive. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Earnings per share are revised on an ongoing basis as new information is received that can result in changes in and out of the list.