After shooting to just over 3,370 points at the start of trading, the Jamaica Stock Exchange Junior Market index managed to hold on to nearly 11 points at the close of market on Wednesday after exchanging 48 percent more shares valued 15 percent less than on Tuesday, after declining stocks outpaced rising ones more than two to one.
Thirty six (36) securities traded compared to 38 on Tuesday, with nine rising, 22 declining and five ending unchanged, leading the Junior Market Index to gain 10.89 points to settle at 3,331.01.
Trading of 14,356,074 shares cost $27,238,932 compared to 9,672,190 units at $32,065,947 on Tuesday. Future Energy Source led trading with 63.6 percent of total volume after an exchange of 9.13 million shares, followed by Jamaican Teas 15.6 percent, with 2.24 million units and Lumber Depot with 6.3 percent with 903,509 units.
Trading averaged 398,780 units at $756,637 in contrast to 254,531 at $843,841 on Tuesday. Trading month to date, averages 343,811 units at $854,671, compared to 339,442 units at $862,461 on Tuesday. April closed with an average of 329,241 units at $854,716 trading. The PE Ratio based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2021-22 earnings averaged 12.2.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows five stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
At the close, Access Financial dropped $1.49 to $20.01 with an exchange of 9,017 shares, Blue Power fell 20 cents to $3.70 with 20,550 units changing hands, CAC 2000 fell $2.70 to $7 after 10 stock units changed hands. Caribbean Assurance Brokers lost 10 cents to close at $1.90 with 16,037 shares traded, Caribbean Cream slipped 5 cents to $6 with a transfer of 3,028 units, Consolidated Bakeries declined by 9 cents to $1.46 with an exchange of 3,859 stocks. Dolphin Cove dropped 48 cents to$7.50 with 7,442 stock units changing hands, Elite Diagnostic fell 51 cents to $3.09 with 9,030 units passing through the market, Express Catering shed 70 cents to end at $5 with investors switching ownership of 33,037 shares. Fontana slipped 10 cents to $6 with 98,435 stocks traded, General Accident gained 10 cents to close at $5.80 with a transfer of 500 shares, Honey Bun dropped 29 cents to $6.50 with an exchange of 15,222 units. Indies Pharma advanced 30 cents to $3.90 with 2,938 stocks changing hands, Jamaican Teas rose 6 cents to $3.95 with 2,244,608 stock units passing through the market, Jetcon Corporation lost 6 cents to land at 85 cents with 97,326 shares traded.
Lasco Distributors dropped 20 cents to $4 with a transfer of 13,200 stocks, Lasco Manufacturing slipped 5 cents to $5.35 with 60,180 units changing hands, Limners and Bards declined by 5 cents to close at $3.40 with 69,773 shares passing through the market. Lumber Depot fell 19 cents to $3.26 with 903,509 stocks traded, Medical Disposables climbed 28 cents to $4.98 with a transfer of 245 units and SSL Venture gained 8 cents to close at 64 cents with 176,140 shares crossing the exchange.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Trading ended with 38 active securities from 40 on Monday resulting in an exchange of 9,672,190 shares for $32,065,947 down from 13,103,080 units at $39,313,013 on Monday.
The PE Ratio based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2021-22 earnings averaged 12.6.
Jamaican Teas slipped 6 cents to $3.89 with 1,527,305 shares passing through the market, Jetcon Corporation rose 5 cents to 91 cents with 187,309 units traded, Knutsford Express jumped 80 cents to $8 with a transfer of 274 stocks. Lasco Distributors gained 5 cents to close at $4.20 with an exchange of 18,634 stock units, Limners and Bards climbed 42 cents to settle at 52 weeks’ high of $3.45 with investors switching ownership of 345,420 shares, Lumber Depot advanced 42 cents to a record high of $3.45 with 334,579 units passing through the market. Mailpac Group increased by 21 cents to finish at $3.87 with 1,613,713 stocks traded, Medical Disposables gained 30 cents to settle at $4.70 with a transfer of 2,755 stock units, SSL Venture slipped 9 cents to 56 cents with 23,076 units changing hands. Stationery and Office Supplies jumped 87 cents to $8.50 with investors switching ownership of 267,890 stocks and tTech dropped 90 cents to close at $5 with 44,301 shares crossing the exchange.
Overall 40 securities traded, up from 37 on Friday and ended with the prices of nine stocks rising, 23 declining and eight remaining unchanged. At the close, the PE Ratio based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2021-22 earnings averaged 12.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows five stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
Lasco Distributors slipped 5 cents to $4.15 with 38,968 shares traded, Lasco Financial fell 14 cents to $3.80 with 85,342 units changing hands, Lumber Depot declined 15 cents to $3.03 with 807,322 stocks passing through the market. Main Event shed 41 cents to end at $4.50 with a transfer of 1,575 stock units, Medical Disposables advanced 15 cents to $4.40 with 1,534 units traded and Stationery and Office Supplies dropped $1.87 to close at $7.63 with 32,890 shares crossing the exchange.

The JSE Main Market is only up 4 percent year to date, but ICTOP15 stock selection saw Carreras and Grace Kennedy rising 37 percent, QWI Investments and Caribbean Cement up 29 percent, Seprod up 20 percent, Jamaica Producers 19 percent and Jamaica Broilers up 15 percent.
The targeted PE ratio for the market averages 20 based on profits of companies reporting full year’s results, up to the second quarter of 2022. Fiscal 2020-21 ended March 2021 with the average PE at 17 for Junior Stocks and 19 times for the Main Market. With interest rates on government paper below 5 percent and likely to remain there for a few years, the likelihood is for the average PE ratios to climb higher during the next twelve months.
The average projected gain for the Junior Market IC TOP 10 stocks is 220 percent and 168 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2021-22 earnings. IC TOP10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns up to March 2022 and ranked in order of potential gains, based on likely increase for each company, taking into account the earnings and PE ratios for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and result in movements in and out of the lists weekly. Revisions to earnings per share are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Trading ended with 37 securities changing hands up from 35 on Thursday and closed with prices of 15 rising, 15 declining and seven closing unchanged.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows three stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
Lasco Distributors gained 13 cents to close at $4.20 with an exchange of 66,204 units, Lasco Financial ended 6 cents lower at $3.94 with the swapping of 1,000 shares, Lasco Manufacturing gained 6 cents in closing at $5.40 in transferring 82,790 stock units. Lumber Depot gained 17 cents ending at $3.18 after exchanging 1,851,495 units, Mailpac Group shed 26 cents to finish at $3.69 after clearing the market with 867,626 stocks, Stationery and Office Supplies advanced $2.49 to end at a 52 weeks’ high of $9.50 in trading 16,303 shares and tTech dipped 8 cents to end at $5.91 with a transfer of 1,250 stock units.
Trading ended with an average of 559,143 units at $1,547,839 up from 351,689 at $822,523 on Wednesday and for the month to date an average of 357,873 units at $865,988, compared to 334,624 units at $787,227 on Wednesday. April closed with an average of 329,241 units at $854,716.
Honey Bun dropped 16 cents to $6 with an exchange of 55,902 units, iCreate gained 6 cents to close at 80 cents with 16,558 stock units passing through the market, Indies Pharma fell 25 cents to $4 with 387,501 shares traded. Jamaican Teas fell 30 cents to settle at $3.50 after 6,713,850 units changed hands, KLE Group lost 9 cents to finish at $1.21 with 600 stocks crossing the exchange, Lasco Distributors declined by 25 cents to $4.07 with 145,965 stock units traded. Lasco Financial climbed 61 cents to 52 weeks high of $4 with a transfer of 55,209 shares, Limners and Bards rose 6 cents to $2.98 with investors switching ownership of 252,216 units, Lumber Depot advanced 21 cents to a 52 weeks’ high of $3.01 with an exchange of 3,917,606 units. Mailpac Group lost 5 cents to close at $3.95 with 317,577 stock units changing hands, Medical Disposables dropped 75 cents to $4.25 with 10,895 stocks passing through the market, Stationery and Office Supplies jumped $1.01 to settle at a 52 weeks’ high of $7.01 with 24,878 units traded and tTech advanced 9 cents to $5.99 with 8,461 shares crossing the exchange.
At the close, 35 securities traded down from 37 on Tuesday with 15 stocks rising, 14 declining and six ending unchanged.
Trading averaged 351,689 units at $822,523 in contrast to 357,620 at $580,663 on Tuesday. Trading for the month to date averages 334,624 units at $787,227, compared to 332,395 units at $782,617 on Tuesday. April averaged 329,241 units at $854,716.
Jamaican Teas fell 30 cents to $3.80 with a transfer of 1,225,475 stocks, Jetcon Corporation rose 6 cents to 91 cents with an exchange of 50,827 stock units, KLE Group climbed 27 cents to $1.30 with investors switching ownership of a mere 5 shares. Lasco Distributors declined 8 cents to $4.32, with 13,297 units changing hands, Lasco Manufacturing gained 21 cents to close at $5.31 with 2,071,884 stocks traded, Mailpac Group rose 6 cents to $4 with a transfer of 335,132 stock units and tTech jumped $1.30 to $5.90 with 23,000 shares crossing the exchange, following release of first quarter resulting showing a 94 percent rise in profit.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows three stocks ending, with the bids higher than their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
Lasco Manufacturing lost 8 cents to end at $5.10 with an exchange of 37,601 shares. Mailpac Group rose 9 cents to $3.94 with a transfer of 266,768 stock units, Medical Disposables fell 19 cents to close at $5 with the ownership of 64,103 stocks switching, Paramount Trading gained 9 cents to finish at $1.39 with 10,029 units changing hands and Stationery and Office Supplies jumped 48 cents to settle at $6 with 11,290 shares crossing the exchange.
A total of 40 securities traded compared to 39 on Friday, with 13 stocks rising, 19 declining and eight remaining unchanged. The PE Ratio based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2021-22 earnings averaged 12.2.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows six stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
Limners and Bards increased 8 cents to finish at $2.90 with 181,122 stock units changing hands, Mailpac Group rose 5 cents to $3.85 with a transfer of 309,136 units, Main Event advanced 22 cents to $4.87 with 1,323 stocks traded. Medical Disposables fell 9 cents to $5.19 with 102 units passing through the market, Stationery and Office Supplies dropped 93 cents to $5.52 with 5,139 stock units changing hands and tTech lost 28 cents to close at $4.60 with 17,551 shares crossing the exchange.
The Junior Market had some major shakeup in some of the listings this past week as investors keep their eyes solidly on opportunities in this market, having slowly eating away at the above-average gains available in the market and driving prices of many stocks up and pushing the market back to early January 2020 level.
Medical Disposables dropped from the third position with a gain of 19 percent to $5.28, Stationery & Office rose from $5.71 to $6.45 and taking it from 5th to 7th position, while Lasco Financial moved up to 6th position from 9th last week, with no price change, Caribbean Producers moved up from 8th last week to 3rd this week and Caribbean Cream shifted from 7th to 2nd this week.
The bullish tone of the two markets continues, with technical indicators and fundamentals of many companies keep on powering prices higher with many investors looking to the future with the recovery of the economy in mind and the impact that it will have on stocks.
The targeted PE ratio for the market averages 20 based on profits of companies reporting full year’s results, up to the second quarter of 2022. Fiscal 2020-21 ended March 2021 with the average PE at 17 for Junior Stocks and 19 times for the Main Market. With interest rates on government paper below 5 percent and likely to remain there for a few years, the likelihood is for the average PE ratios to climb higher during the next twelve months.
The JSE Main Market ended the week with an overall PE of 16.5, some distance from the 19 the market ended March, suggesting a 15 percent rise from now to March 2022. The Main Market TOP 10 trades at a PE of 7.7 or 47 percent of the PE of that market and well off the potential of 20.