21% gain for JSE Main Market


The Main Market closed on Friday, October 30, with the JSE Market Index at 385,199.03 points, a gain of 67,212.15 points, or 21.14 percent, from its 2025 year-end close of 317,986.88. The advance was led by a handful of very large movers, with West Indies Petroleum Terminals more than sextupling in value, while a number of securities lost a third or more of their value.

The gain in the index is the highest since 2019, when the market index rose 34 percent, the year before the COVID pandemic in 2020. the current year seems set to be the third consecutive year of increase for the market index.
West Indies Petroleum led the the top winners by a wide margin with a gain of 656.49 percent that dwarfed the second placed mover, NCB Financial Group, with a gain of 106.94 percent and followed by Transjamaican Highway jumping 103.48 percent. Cigarette distributor Carreras advanced 61.11 percent, coming off from a high of $36.21, earlier in the year, when it doubled in price. Lasco Manufacturing rose a respectable 38.41 percent and Scotia Group, which is being taken private at $75 per share, gained 32.08 percent. Kingston Properties appreciated 30.85 percent, Sagicor Real Estate Fund ended with a gain of 18.75 percent, General Accident was next after gaining 16.13 percent and surprisingly, RJR Group, the loss maker that is being restructured, rounded out the top ten, gaining 14.04 percent.
At the other end of the market, Palace Amusement Company and A.S. Bryden Holdings were the weakest performers in the market for the year to date, each declining by 50 percent. Mayberry Group dropped by 36.71 percent and Portland JSX declined by 33.50 percent. Sygnus Real Estate Finance lost 28.52 percent and PROVEN Group declined 27.27 percent. Tropical Battery Company was down 20 percent, First Rock Real Estate Investments fell by 18.80 percent, while Wigton Windfarm, suffering from delayed build-out of its new solar power generation plant, suffered a loss of 18.18 percent, and the Jamaica Stock Exchange declined 17.88 percent.

Transjamaican Highway is JSE top stock


Transjamaican Highway with earnings on track to reach 39 cents per share for the year, ended as the top performing company on the Jamaica Stock Exchange at the end of November with the stock price rising 81 percent and ending the month at a record closing high of $4.88 and is up 88 percent when dividends of 19 cents paid during the year are included.

A measure of the Main Market performance can be gleaned from the All Jamaica Composite Index recording a mild increase to the end of November, with a cut in interest rates from just under 12 percent to 6.7 percent, with the market starting to rise from a bottom in September to a nine and a half months high at month end.
In the period, almost half of the Main Market listed ordinary stocks recorded gains in the first 11 months of this year while 26 declined and one remained unchanged. Former Junior Market listed, Lasco Manufacturing delivered a solid 66 percent rally during the period. Energy producer Wigton with ownership restrictions lifted earlier in the year, rose a robust 59 percent followed by cigarette marketer Carreras, with a 38 percent increase, with First Rock and General Accident each gaining 32 percent and QWI Investments 31 percent.
The top 10 losing stocks, recorded losses from 14 to 44 percent, with Pulse Investments as the leading loser dropping a hefty 44 percent, following the loss of its founder and chief executive earlier in the year, RJR Group, with a torrid year of lower revenues and heavy losses, was next with a decline of 36 percent followed by Proven Investments down 26 percent, with profit under pressure, NCB Group, with an increased supply of stock on the market following a tepidly received additional share issue in May this year, suffered a 26 loss and Sagicor Group 19 percent.