The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange index advanced by 17.52 points to close at 2,863.43 on Monday. 23 securities changing hands, compared to 25 changing hands on Friday.
Market activity resulted in the prices of 10 securities advanced, 8 declined and 5 remained unchanged from an exchange of 2,509,141 units valued at $11,095,172 versus an exchange of 1,770,268 units valued at $6,952,112 on Friday.
Trading ended with an average of 109,093 units for an average of $482,399 compared to an average of 70,811 units for an average of $278,084 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 106,129 units at $429,494, compared to an average of 104,792 units at $405,635 on the previous trading day. February closed with an average of 338,697 units at an average value of $1,495,774 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 5 stocks ending with the bid higher than the last selling price and 3 with lower offers.
At the close of the market AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 15 cents at $2.05, with 104,354 stock units trading, Blue Power concluded trading with a loss of $1.99 at $33.01, with 10,000 units, CAC 2000 finished with a loss of 30 cents at $8.70, trading 1,000 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading 22 cents higher at $6.50, with just 2,000 shares, Caribbean Producers rose by 1 cent to end at $4.11, with 962,877 units. Derrimon Trading concluded trading at $7.48, with 57,908 shares, Dolphin Cove finished with a loss of 90 cents at $16.10, exchanging 750 stock units, Elite Diagnostic settled with a loss of 8 cents at $2.77, with 381,025 units, Eppley ordinary share ended trading at $10, with 15,000 shares. 
Express Catering traded with a loss of 4 cents at $4.30, with 51,030 shares, FosRich Group finished trading at $2.50, with 33,614 shares, General Accident closed 8 cents higher at $3.04, with 169,615 stock units, GWest Corporation ended at $2.90, with 6,040 units changing hands. Honey Bun concluded trading 10 cents higher at $4.30, with 20,800 shares, Jamaican Teas rose 10 cents to close at $5, with 32,000 stock units, Jetcon Corporation traded with a loss of 40 cents at $4.50, swapping 210,424 units, Knutsford Express ended 4 cents higher at $15, with 66,427 shares. Lasco Distributors concluded trading 10 cents higher at $4.10, with 308,000 stock units, Lasco Financial finished 10 cents higher at $4.60, with 4,514 units, Lasco Manufacturing settled 34 cents higher at $4.09, with 24,200 shares, Main Event ended trading at $6, with 6,152 shares. Medical Disposables traded 5 cents higher at $4.85, with 311 shares and Stationery and Office closed with a loss of 38 cents at $5.10, with 41,100 units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
CrediScotia costs Lasco Financial $1.5B
Lasco Financial profit dropped for 2017 Q3.
The acquisition of company operating CrediScotia, renamed LASCO Microfinance Limited cost Lasco Financial around $1.5 billion, data disclosed in the company’s December quarterly report shows.
The acquisition was funded primarily from related party advances which stands on the books at $1.27 billion. The amount will be repaid in full from a long term instrument being arranged to raise $1.5 billion at an interest rate of 9.5% and also to provide working capital to allow for expansion of the loan portfolio.
The acquisition was the main contributor for a $1.5 billion surge in the assets of the enlarged Group, taking it to $3.26 billion at the end of December.
Scotia Jamaica Microfinance Company, name was changed, effective at the start of December, following the acquisition by LASCO Financial Services in November 2017.
LASCO Microfinance now, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lasco Financial, is the ”fourth largest contender in the local microfinance market behind Jamaica National Small Business Loans, Access Financial Services and Worldnet Investment,” a release from Lasco disclosed.
The group “aims to continue a seamless transition to merge its networks, systems and processes over the next few months to effectively organize its operations under two main business lines – money services and loans through the
Jacinth Hall-Tracey, Managing Director of Lasco Financial.
At the end of March 2017 loans advanced to borrowers on the books was $282 million and seemed to have climbed to approximately $650 million by September last year. The acquisition has increased the group’s loan portfolio to $1.3 billion, Managing Director of Lasco, Jacinth Hall-Tracey confirms. The merger has also almost tripled the loan team to just under 90 persons, spread over 13 loan offices island-wide.
Interestingly, while the acquisition of CrediScotia took place in November, the results for Lasco show no increase in income for the December quarter. For the September quarter total revenues reached $396 million up from $272 million in 2016, but the December quarterly, reports trading income of $407 million compared to the revenue in September, but it was well ahead of the $298 million generated in the December quarter of 2016. The December quarter is usually the period of highest revenues exceeding all other quarters by a good margin. “There was reduced fX spread compared with September quarter which impacted income; it also led to a revaluation loss,” Hall-Tracey informed IC Insider.com. Profit fell in the quarter to $55 million from $100 million in September an unusual development as profit would normally be greater than the amount reported in the September quarter, after recognizing some direct expenses for the acquisition and normal seasonal operational increases,” Hall-Tracey stated. There was short term debt which attracted legal & professional fees for the short term loan and there was finance cost as well as transaction fees for the short term borrowings to settle the sale price on Hall-Tracey informed IC Insider.com.
Adjusted for the above one off cost and set back earnings from ongoing operation is well ahead of the $55 million reported for the period in 2017 and augurs well for improved results for the March 2019 results.
Junior Market falls again – Friday
The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange index declined for the second day, with a fall of 14.96 points to close at 2,845.91 on Friday. At the close, the prices of 11 securities advanced, 8 declined and 6 remained unchanged from 25 securities changing hands, compared to 26 changing hands on Thursday.
Market activity resulted in an exchange of 1,770,268 units valued at $6,952,112 versus an exchange of 3,574,111 units valued at $13,735,257 on Thursday.
Trading ended with an average of 70,811 units for an average of $278,084 compared to an average of 137,466 units for an average of $528,279 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 104,792 units at $405,635. February closed with an average of 338,697 units at an average value of $1,495,774 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 7 stocks ending with the bid higher than the last selling price and 2 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial closed at $50, with 1,188 shares trading, AMG Packaging ended 17 cents higher at $2.20, with 4,032 stock units, CAC 2000 finished at $9, with 2,000 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading 28 cents higher at $6.28, with 2,267 shares, Caribbean Producers rose 5 cents to close at $4.10, with 2,450 units. Derrimon Trading concluded trading with a gain of 48 cents to $7.48, with 71,245 shares, Elite Diagnostic settled 12 cents higher at $2.85, with 633,886 units, Eppley ended trading at $10, with 2,000 shares, Express Catering traded at $4.34, with 22,012 shares. FosRich Group finished trading with a loss of 11 cents at $2.50, with 169,827 shares changing hands, after the company reported earnings per share of 14 cents from 81 percent rise in profits for 2018. General Accident closed 6 cents higher at $2.96, with 26,621 stock units, GWest Corporation ended with a loss of 10 cents at $2.90, with 2,260 units, Honey Bun concluded trading 20 cents higher at $4.20, with 26,000 shares. Jamaican Teas ended trading with a loss of 9 cents at $4.90, with 68,758 stock units, 
Jetcon Corporation traded 30 cents higher at $4.90, with 65,640 units, Key Insurance finished trading with a loss of 6 cents at $3.94, with 17,204 shares, Knutsford Express ended with a loss of 4 cents at $14.96, with 7,562 shares. Lasco Distributors concluded trading at $4, with 97,597 stock units, Lasco Financial finished with a loss of 22 cents at $4.50, with 382,367 units, Lasco Manufacturing settled at $3.75, with 52,070 shares, Main Event ended trading 10 cents higher at $6, with 7,545 shares. Medical Disposables traded with a loss of 5 cents at $4.80, with 26,480 shares, Paramount Trading finished trading with a loss of 25 cents at $3.10, with 6,515 stock units, Stationery and Office closed 18 cents higher at $5.48, with 71,200 units after the company posted a 78 percent rise in profits and tTech concluded trading $1 higher at $6, with 1,542 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Big drop in Junior Market – Thursday
The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange index dropped sharply on Thursday with 64.06 points fall to close at 2,860.87 as the prices of 7 securities advanced, 11 declined and 10 remained unchanged from 26 securities changing hands, the same number changing hands on Wednesday.
Market activity resulted in an exchange of 3,574,111 units valued at $13,735,257 versus an exchange of 33,681,650 units valued at $100,532,367 on Wednesday. Trading ended with an average of 137,466 units for an average of $528,279 compared to an average of 1,295,448 units for an average of $3,866,630 on Wednesday. February closed with an average of 338,697 units at an average value of $1,495,774 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 6 stocks ending with the bid higher than the last selling price and 4 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial closed at $50, with 15,366 shares, AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 3 cents at $2.03, with 600,000 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading with a loss of 4.99 cents at $35, with 2,000 units, Caribbean Cream ended trading with a loss of 30 cents at $6, with 26,844 shares, Caribbean Flavours traded with a loss of 70 cents at $10, with 18,827 stock units. Consolidated Bakeries closed at $1.90, with 11,700 shares, Derrimon Trading concluded trading at $7, with 53,928 shares, Elite Diagnostic settled with a loss of 17 cents at $2.73, with 317,840 units, Express Catering traded 6 cents higher at $4.34, with 13,842 shares. FosRich Group finished trading 10 cents higher at $2.61, with 72,592 shares, General Accident closed at $2.90, with 423,294 stock units, GWest Corporation ended at $3, with 147,526 units, Honey Bun concluded trading with a loss of 1.14 cents at $4, with 605,300 shares. Iron Rock finished at $3, with 3,600 shares, ISP Finance settled $1 higher at $12.05, with 7,773 shares, 
Jamaican Teas ended trading 29 cents higher at $4.99, with 15,600 stock units, Jetcon Corporation traded at $4.60, with 176 units. Knutsford Express ended at $15, with 4,651 shares, Lasco Distributors concluded trading with a loss of 30 cents at $4, with 432,046 stock units, Lasco Financial finished 22 cents higher at $4.72, with 339,866 units, Lasco Manufacturing settled with a loss of 49 cents at $3.75, with 199,371 shares. Main Event ended trading with a loss of 10 cents at $5.90, with 3,995 shares, Medical Disposables traded with a loss of 4 cents at $4.85, with 59,680 shares, Paramount Trading finished trading 5 cents higher at $3.35, with 32,500 stock units, Stationery and Office closed 24 cents higher at $5.30, with 147,287 units and tTech concluded trading with a loss of 1 cent at $5, with 18,507 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Elite dominates Junior market trading – Wednesday
Elite Diagnostics accounted for 31.7M of Wednesday’s Junior Market trading.
Elite Diagnostic traded 31.7 million shares on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Wednesday with 26 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 33,681,650 units valued at $100,532,367.
The number of securities trading on Wednesday was slightly down from 27 that were changing hands on Tuesday and resulted in 6,804,974 units valued at $25,440,524 changing hands on Tuesday. The Junior Market index advanced 28.52 points to close at 2,924.93 as the prices of 8 securities advanced, 8 declined and 10 remained unchanged.
Trading ended with an average of 1,295,448 units for an average of $3,866,630 compared to an average of 252,036 units for an average of $942,242 on Tuesday. An average of 338,697 units at an average value of $1,495,774 traded, and previously 272,715 units at an average value of $1,495,774. In contrast, January closed with an average of 122,386 shares, valued at $489,704 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 6 stocks ending with the bid higher than the last selling price and 4 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial closed at $50, with 1,800 shares, AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 14 cents at $2.06, with 221,913 stock units, 
Blue Power jumped $5.12 to close trading at $39.99, with 500 units, Caribbean Cream settled 13 cents higher at $6.30, with 44,700 shares, Caribbean Flavours ended trading with a loss of 20 cents at $10.70, with 3,798 shares. Caribbean Producers traded with a loss of 35 cents at $4.05, with 30,000 stock units, Cargo Handlers closed $10.45 higher at $10.45, with 395 shares, Derrimon Trading ended with a loss of 50 cents at $7, with 127,016 shares, Elite Diagnostic finished 20 cents higher at $2.90, with 31,748,062 stock units, Eppley ordinary share settled at $10, with 50,196 units. Express Catering ended trading with a loss of 5 cents at $4.28, with 280,992 shares, General Accident finished trading at $2.90, with 70,400 shares, GWest Corporation closed at $3, with 159,035 stock units, Honey Bun ended $1.04 higher at $5.14, with 200 units trading. 
Jetcon Corporation ended trading at $4.60, with 161,700 stock units, Knutsford Express closed at $15, with 3,293 shares, Lasco Distributors ended at $4.30, with 41,039 shares, Lasco Financial concluded trading with a loss of 30 cents at $4.50, with 565,272 stock units. Lasco Manufacturing finished with a loss of 6 cents at $4.24, after 59,400 units trading, Main Event settled 15 cents higher at $6, with 49,590 shares, Medical Disposables ended trading 4 cents higher at $4.89, with 3,000 shares, Paramount Trading closed 20 cents higher at $3.30, with 300 shares. Stationery and Office finished trading at $5.06, with 35,154 stock units and tTech ended 55 cents higher at $6, with 13,695 shares. In the junior market preference segment, Derrimon Trading ended at $2.15, with 10,000 stock units and Eppley 9.5% finished at $7.29, with 200 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Junior Market trading picks up – Tuesday
Trading in GWest shares accounted for more than 3.7m units.
The market closed with an exchange of 6,804,974 units valued at $25,440,524 compared to 1,526,211 units valued at $4,615,508 on Monday. The Junior Market index lost 19.93 points to 2,896.41 as the prices of 10 securities advanced, 11 declined and 6 remained unchanged.
Trading ended with an average of 252,036 units for an average of $942,242 compared to an average of 66,357 units for an average of $200,674 on Monday. An average of 272,715 units at an average value of $1,495,774 traded, and previously 274,310 units at an average value of $1,538,475. In contrast, January closed with an average of 122,386 shares, valued at $489,704 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 7 stocks ending with the bid higher than the last selling price and 3 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial jumped by $5 higher to $50, with 71,095 shares changing hands, AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 24 cents at $2.20, with 115,129 stock units, Cargo Handlers settled with a loss of 1 cent at $10.89, with 1,000 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading with a loss of 3 cents at $6.17, with 4,000 shares, Caribbean Flavours traded at $10.90, with 2,650 stock units. Caribbean Producers finished trading 40 cents higher at $4.40, with 100 units, Derrimon Trading concluded market activity with a rise of 50 cents to $7.50, with 13,559 shares, Elite Diagnostic settled 3 cents higher at $2.70, with 1,297,976 units, Eppley concluded trading at $10, with 80,000 units, Express Catering ended trading 3 cents higher at $4.33, with 8,000 shares. FosRich Group traded with a loss of 19 cents at $2.51, with 62,000 shares, General Accident finished trading 10 cents higher at $2.90, with 438,271 shares, GWest Corporation rose 40 cents and closed at $3, with 3,703,621 stock units, Honey Bun ended with a loss of 1.05 cents at $4.10, with 355,724 units.
Iron Rock concluded trading at $3, with 3,300 shares, Jamaican Teas settled with a loss of 5 cents at $4.70, with 100,150 shares, Jetcon Corporation ended trading at $4.60, with 65,965 stock units, KLE Group finished trading at $2.30, with 4,325 shares. Knutsford Express closed at $15, with 32,400 shares, Lasco Distributors ended with a loss of 10 cents at $4.30, with 184,234 shares, Lasco Financial concluded trading with a loss of 5 cents at $4.80, with 176,447 stock units, Lasco Manufacturing finished with a loss of 13 cents at $4.30, with 43,940 units. Main Event settled with a loss of 18 cents at $5.85, with 4,668 shares, Medical Disposables ended trading at $4.85, with 3,000 shares, Stationery and Office finished trading 4 cents higher at $5.06, with 25,555 stock units and tTech ended 45 cents higher at $5.45, with an exchange of 7,465 shares. In the junior market preference segment, Eppley settled 4 cents higher at $7.29, with 400 shares changing hands.Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Junior Market volume slides – Monday
The market closed on Monday with 23 securities changing hands, up from 21 on Friday, resulting in an exchange of 1,526,211 units valued at $4,615,508, compared to 5,241,602 units valued at $19,221,963, on Friday.
The Junior Market index fell 11.94 points to close at 2,916.34 as the prices of 8 securities advanced, 9 declined and 6 remained unchanged.
Trading ended with an average of 66,357 units for an average of $200,674 compared to an average of 249,600 units for an average of $915,332 on Friday. An average of 274,310 units at an average value of $1,538,475 traded, and previously 288,936 units at an average value of $1,632,571. In contrast, January closed with an average of 122,386 shares, valued at $489,704 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 4 stocks ending with the bid higher than the last selling price and 3 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 1 cent at $2.44, with 3,500 stock units, Caribbean Cream ended trading with a loss of $1.32to $6.20, with 7,900 shares, Caribbean Flavours traded 1 cent higher at $10.90, with 9,725 stock units, Caribbean Producers finished trading with a loss of 40 cents at $4, with 12,490 units, Consolidated Bakeries closed 12 cents higher at $1.90, with 8,059 shares. Derrimon Trading concluded trading with a loss of 15 cents at $7, with 1,707 shares, Elite Diagnostic settled with a loss of 23 cents at $2.67, with 1,231,455 units, Express Catering traded with a loss of 40 cents at $4.30, with 17,778 shares, FosRich Group finished trading at $2.70, with 103,300 shares. General Accident closed at $2.80, with 6,012 stock units, GWest Corporation ended 10 cents higher at $2.60, with 12,653 units, Honey Bun concluded trading 2 cents higher at $5.15, with 500 shares, Iron Rock finished at $3, with 10,000 shares.
ISP Finance settled $1.05 higher at $11.05, with 2,500 shares, Jamaican Teas ended trading with a loss of 3 cents at $4.75, with 12,045 stock units, Jetcon Corporation traded at $4.60, with 11,050 units, Knutsford Express ended at $15, with 1,627 shares. Lasco Distributors concluded trading 3 cents higher at $4.40, with 19,647 stock units, Lasco Financial finished with a loss of 15 cents at $4.85, with 24,372 units, Lasco Manufacturing settled at $4.43, with 6,000 shares, Main Event ended trading 3 cents higher at $6.03, with 3,000 shares, Stationery and Office closed 2 cents higher at $5.02, with 18,059 units and tTech concluded trading with a loss of 40 cents at $5, with 2,832 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
tTech, LasFin & Blue Power in TOP 10
The Junior Market is up 7.5 percent for the year to date, helped considerably by three new listings since late December and recovery in the prices of three Lasco companies and a few others.
Investors pushed Treasury bill rates sharply down by 22 percent from 4.63 in December to 3.593 percent in February, while the central bank cut their overnight rates in sympathy to 2.75 percent. On the other hand profit results of companies have been mixed with some showing strong gains and others no so strong. So far stocks prices have yet to move to factor in the lower interest rates.
One company that had good 2017 results was ISP Finance but increased bad debt provisioning curtailed the growth in profits to just one percent after tax, but 20 percent ahead of the net 2016 profits with a 25 percent rise in revenues. The results for 2017 resulted in earnings per share being reduced to $1.20 for 2018 and with a rise in the stock price to $11.05 it is no longer in the TOP stocks. Also going out are, Access Financial and Paramount Trading. Access earnings have been reduced following their third quarter 2017 results.
Entering the TOP 10 Junior Market list are tTech, Lasco Financial and Blue Power. While Lasco Financial had lower profit in the December 2017 quarter than in 2016 that was due to added cost associated with the acquisition of Credi Scotia. The company will see a big jump in profit as a result of the acquisition. tTech is said to be seeing strong growth in clientele following a few years of soliciting new clients business. 
General Accident had a temporary setback in profit in 2017 due to a major claim but rising premium income margin should help boost profit in 2018 barring any major catastrophic claims. Key Insurance despite incurring cost associated with staff separation amounting to close to $50 million reported improved results for 2017 over 2016 and should go on to record the highest levels of profit in 2018 with expected better margin on insurance underwriting barring any unusually large claims. Stationery and Office had a record 2018 performance and is expected to show improve results in 2018 that will move the price upwards.
At the close of Friday, the average PE ratio for Junior Market Top stocks ended at 6.3 compared to an average PE for the overall main market is 10 based on 2018 estimated earnings.
IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 39 percent to the average for the Junior Market Top stocks but its less than 50 percent of what the average PE for the year is likely to be, of 15 to 20 times earnings.
Elite Diagnostics grabs 77% of trades
Recently listed Elite Diagnostics dominated trading on Junior Market on Friday with 4 million shares, or 77 percent of trading, with no trade exceeding 172,000 units.
On Thursday the Elite accounted for just over 84 percent of volume of stocks trading, resulting in 6,672,725 units, up from 2,520,373 shares that were exchanged on Wednesday.
The market closed on Friday with 21 securities changing hands, up from 18 on Thursday, resulting in an exchange of 5,241,602 units valued at $19,221,963, compared to 7,902,138 units valued at $25,165,370 on the prior trading day.
The Junior Market index advanced 12.59 points to close at 2,928.28 as the prices of 7 securities advanced, 7 declined and 7 remained unchanged.
Trading ended with an average of 249,600 units for an average of $915,332 compared to an average of 439,008 units for an average of $1,398,076 on Thursday. An average of 288,936 units at an average value of $1,632,571 traded, and previously 291,636 units at an average value of $1,681,793. 
In contrast, January closed with an average of 122,386 shares, valued at $489,704 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 8 stocks ending with the bid higher than the last selling price and 1 with a lower offer.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging ended 40 cents higher at $2.45, with 20,000 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading at $34.87, with 910 units, CAC 2000 finished at $9, with 7,000 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading $1.53 higher at $7.52, with 296,348 shares, Caribbean Producers finished trading 10 cents higher at $4.40, with 70,595 units. C2W Music ended with a loss of 6 cents at $0.45, with 58,350 shares, Dolphin Cove finished 15 cents higher at $17, with 100,200 stock units, Elite Diagnostic settled with a loss of 11 cents at $2.90, with 4,055,011 units, 
Eppley ended trading with a loss of 40 cents at $10.10, with 100 shares. FosRich Group finished trading 10 cents higher at $2.70, with 12,000 shares, General Accident closed with a loss of 5 cents at $2.80, with 61,920 stock units, Iron Rock finished at $3, with 111,500 shares, Jamaican Teas ended trading 28 cents higher at $4.78, with 9,700 stock units. Jetcon Corporation traded at $4.60, with 67,077 units, Lasco Distributors concluded trading with a loss of 3 cents at $4.37, with 31,891 stock units, Lasco Financial finished at $5, with 104,930 units, Lasco Manufacturing settled at $4.43, with 2,783 shares. Main Event ended trading at $6, with 5,067 shares, Medical Disposables fell 15 cents to $4.85, with 16,950 shares, Stationery and Office closed with a loss of 6 cents at $5, with 24,091 units and tTech concluded trading 40 cents higher at $5.40, with 185,179 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Elite Diagnostics dominates trading with 84%
Elite Diagnostics accounted for 84.4% of Thursday’s Junior Market trading.
Recently listed Elite Diagnostics accounted for just over 84 percent of volume of stocks trading resulting from 6,672,725 units, up from 2,520,373 shares that were exchanged on the Junior Market, on Wednesday.
The market closed on Thursday with 18 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 7,902,138 units valued at $25,165,370 compared to 4,892,740 units valued at $17,902,241 on Wednesday.
The Junior Market index advanced 24.40 points to close at 2,915.69 as the prices of 4 securities advanced, 6 declined and 8 remained unchanged.
Trading ended with an average of 439,008 units for an average of $1,398,076 down from an average of 212,728 units for an average of $778,358 on Wednesday. An average of 291,636 units at an average value of $1,681,793 traded, and previously 282,425 units at an average of $1,699,526. In contrast, January closed with an average of 122,386 shares, valued at $489,704 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 8 stocks ending with the bid higher than the last selling price and 3 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 5 cents at $2.05, with 302,021 stock units, CAC 2000 finished with a loss of 99 cents at $9, with 13,372 shares, Cargo Handlers settled at $10.90, with 2,000 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading at $5.99, with 109,883 shares, Elite Diagnostic settled with a loss of 2 cents at $3.01, with 6,672,725 units. Eppley ended trading at $10.50, with 1,356 shares, Express Catering traded 10 cents higher at $4.70, with 22,638 shares, FosRich Group finished trading 10 cents higher at $2.60, with 208,907 shares, Honey Bun concluded trading with a loss of 12 cents at $5.13, with 92,847 shares. Iron Rock finished at $3, with 2,099 shares, KLE Group closed at $2.30, with 60,000 shares, 
Knutsford Express ended $1.90 higher at $15, with 300 shares, Lasco Distributors concluded trading at $4.40, with 80,604 stock units. Lasco Financial finished at $5, with 170,459 units, Lasco Manufacturing settled 3 cents higher at $4.43, with 57,395 shares, Main Event ended trading with a loss of 50 cents at $6, with 22,170 shares, Stationery and Office closed at $5.06, with 34,000 units and tTech concluded trading with a loss of 40 cents at $5, with 49,362 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
