Trading on the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange was moderate on Thursday with 3,438,708 units, valued at just $30,094,508 changing hands but with the market closing at new record high.
Trading in the US dollar market saw 4 securities changing hands, resulting in 21,938 units valued at US$8,171 trading. A total of 26 securities changing hands in the main market with 9 advancing, 8 declining and 9 traded firm, leading the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index to jump 1,630.32 points to a record close of 305,961.60 and the JSE Index to gain 1,485.40 points to end at a record 278,765.62.
In the main activity, Barita Investments closed $1 higher at $9, with 29,895 shares trading, Berger Paints settled 90 cents higher at $12.50, with 3,308 shares, Cable & Wireless ended trading with a rise of 2 cents to $1.20, with 2,136,104 shares changing hands, 
Caribbean Cement ended 50 cents higher at $28, with 20,303 units, Carreras finished with a loss of 30 cents at $11.20, with 244,222 stock units trading, Grace Kennedy closed at $42.50, with 119,832 shares. Jamaica Broilers traded with a loss of 49 cents at $18.01, with 11,966 shares, Jamaica Producers closed at $16, with 10,229 units, Jamaica Stock Exchange finished trading with a loss of 20 cents at $7, after trading 1,000 shares, JMMB Group concluded trading 60 cents higher at $27.60, with 29,975 units, Kingston Wharves ended at $30, with 31,537 shares changing hands. Mayberry Investments finished at $4.21, trading 168,816 units, NCB Financial climbed by $1.50 to $94.50 while trading 13,287 units, 1834 Investments ended at $1.35, trading 2,500 units, PanJam Investment ended trading $2.40 higher at $41, with a mere 355 stock units, Portland JSX concluded trading at $9, with 4,500 shares. Radio Jamaica finished trading with a loss of 5 cents at $1.10, with 37,922 shares, 
Sagicor Group concluded trading with a loss of 50 cents at $38, with 18,876 stock units, Sagicor Real Estate Fund concluded trading 1 cent higher at $14.01, with 210,174 units, Salada Foods gained $1.50 t0 $10, with 1,000 stock units, Scotia Group finished trading with a loss of $3 to end at $50, with 203,381 shares. Seprod finished trading at $30, with 1,674 units and Supreme Ventures concluded trading with a loss of 50 cents at $11.50, with 14,502 units. In the main market preference segment, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.5% finished trading with a loss of 10 cents at $1.90, with 60,150 stock units, JMMB Group 6% preference share lost 4 cents to close at $1.10, with 63,000 shares. In the US dollar market segment, JMMB Group 6% preference share closed at US$1.11, with 2,230 shares Productivity Business traded 2,910 shares at 60 US cents and Proven Investments closed with 16,424 units trading at 23.5 US cents.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
JSE eating away at resistance
The JSE All Jamaican Composite Index continues to eat away at resistance around the 300,000 points levels, advancing by 2,135.19 points to close at 302,498.35 with the JSE Index following with a rise of 1,945.40 points to a record close of 275,610.21.
At the close of the market, Barita Investments closed at $8, with 7,550 stock units trading, Berger Paints finished trading 25 cents higher at $11.50, with 248,769 shares, Cable & Wireless ended trading 8 cents higher at $1.18, with 1,105,000 units, Caribbean Cement ended trading 95 cents higher at $27.50, with 8,250 units, 
Carreras closed with a loss of 10 cents at $11.90, with 151,770 stock units, Grace Kennedy ended with a loss of 75 cents at $42, trading 85,614 shares. Jamaica Broilers finished 5 cents higher at $18, with 66,650 units, Jamaica Producers settled with a loss of 40 cents at $15.60, with 2,000 shares changing hands, Jamaica Stock Exchange closed 5 cents higher at $7.25, with 1,000 shares, JMMB Group ended $1 higher at $27, with 62,554 units, Kingston Properties rose 5 cents to end at $7.20, with 160 shares. Kingston Wharves finished trading at $30, with 25,722 stock units, 1834 Investments traded 33,558 shares at $1.25, 
PanJam Investment lost 52 cents to end at $38, with 10,000 stock units, Portland JSX traded 25 cents higher at $8.75, with 5,000 units, Radio Jamaica closed at $1.15, with 2,500 shares, Sagicor Group traded 37,406 units with a gain of $1.49 to end at $40. Sagicor Real Estate Fund ended trading at $13.25, with 4,000 units, Scotia Group gained $1.02 higher to $52, with 9,271 shares and Supreme Ventures ended 15 cents higher at $12, with 51,500 stock units. In the main market preference segment, JMMB Group concluded trading at $1.15, with 747,717 stock units, and Sagicor Bank B preference share traded 9,000 units at $1and in the US dollar market segment, Proven Investments closed with 102,838 units trading at 20 US cents after slipping3.5 US cents.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Access & NCB in TOP 10
NCB Financial Group enters TOP 10
The main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at new record high on Friday, the seond week in a row that it doing so and in the process the all Jamaica Composite Index broke the 300,000 mark for the first time.
While the main market is making new highs, with gains of 43 percent for 2017, the junior market with gains of 30 percent at its peak this year, is now up just 12 percent for the year to date. Access Financial returned to the Junior Market list and NCB Financial to the main market list even as the latter price moved back to $91 at the end of the week and with just 33,603 units being offered for sale.
Suspension of the trading in Berger Paints shares is expected lifted on Tuesday, October 17. At the time of this report, no information was available on the level of take up of the buyout offer for the minority of the company’s shares by Ansa Coatings. The stock that traded at $11.25 when trading was suspended, should climb with the March 2018 full year’s earnings should hit $2.30 per share.
Investors continue to switch attention from Junior Market, to main market stocks, with the latter having pierced resistance around 300,000 points on the all Jamaica Composite Index could now be heading much higher as it moves on to the next major resistance at 360,000 point range on or before the end of the year.
At the close of Friday, the average PE ratio for the Junior Market Top stocks is at 7.9 and a PE at 7.1 for the main market TOP 10. The average PE for the overall main market trades at 13.5 and 13.1 for Junior Market, based on 2017 estimated earnings.
At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 40 percent to the average of the market for Junior Market Top stocks and it remains at 47 percent for the main market.
Banks push JSE to new high – Friday
Stocks surged higher, at the close of trading on the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Friday with the market ending at record closing levels as JMMB Group NCB Financial and Scotia Group record strong gains, pushing the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index to a record close of 300,363.16.
Trading on the main market ended with 22 securities changing hands, 7 advanced, 6 declined and 11 traded firm with 4,504,312 units valued at $68,391,852 compared to 94,545,441 units valued at $1,119,081,050 on Thursday. In the US dollar market 425,898 units traded for a value of US$102,239 for two securities.
In market activity, volumes are those trades for the day and the closing prices are those at which the last trade took place. At the close on market activity, Barita Investments ended trading with a loss of $1 at $8, with 40,452 stock units trading, Cable & Wireless finished at $1.10, with 42,361 units, Caribbean Cement settled 54 cents higher at $26.55, with 3,000 shares, Carreras closed at $12, after 462,635 stock units changed hands, Grace Kennedy closed with a loss of 5 cents at $42.75, with 12,005 shares. Jamaica Broilers ended with a loss of 5 cents at $17.95, with 1,858 units, Jamaica Producers ended trading at $16, with 2,278 stock units, Jamaica Stock Exchange concluded trading $1.20 higher at $7.20, with 1,064,940 shares switching owners, JMMB Group finished $3 higher at $26, after trading 21,667 units, Mayberry Investments ended trading with a loss of 40 cents at $4.10, with 15,378 shares. PanJam Investment ended with a loss of $3.48 to $38.52, with 9,732 units, 
Portland JSX ended trading after falling 50 cents to an all-time low of $8.50, with 50,000 stock units after the company reported a loss for the six months to August of US$221,251. Radio Jamaica settled at $1.15, trading 10,100 shares, Sagicor Group traded with a loss of $1.49 cents at $38.51, with 7,700 units changing hands, Sagicor Real Estate Fund finished trading 4 cents higher at $13.25, with 19,700 stock units, after it traded at an all-time high of $15. Salada Foods closed at $8.50, with 350,000 shares, Scotia Group ended $3.08 higher at $50.98, with 414,399 stock units, Seprod traded 339 units at $30 and Supreme Ventures finished 37 cents higher at $11.85, with 130,790 shares.
In the main market preference segment, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.5%, ended trading 700,000 shares at $2 and JMMB Group 7.5% ended 1 cent higher at $1.15, with 870,000 stock units changing hands.
In the US dollar market segment, Productivity Business traded 5,898 shares at 57.5 US cents and Proven Investments closed with 420,000 units trading at 23.5 US cents.
JSE suffers set back in forward move
JMMB Group inching higher on limited supply of stocks.
Large fall in the prices of are Caribbean Cement, Carreras and Scotia Group push the market down appreciably on Thursday and strong gains in PanJam Investment and JMMB Group could only dent the fall.
At the close of market activity, Berger Paints gained of 25 cents and closed at $11.25 with 148,982 shares, Cable and Wireless closed at $1.01, having lost 9 cents with 117,235 shares changing hands, Caribbean Cement with a loss of $2.20 at $25.80 with 30,123 shares, Carreras traded $1.20 lower to $10.80 with 1,217,220 shares, Ciboney Group exchanged 367,400 shares at 16 cents, Grace Kennedy gained 49 cents to settle at $43.50 with 11,300 units. Jamaica Producers advanced $1, to $16 in exchanging 34,495 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange closed with gains of 5 cents, at $6.50 with 1,379 units, JMMB Group ended at a 52 weeks’ closing high of $23, after adding $1, trading 16,843 shares. Kingston Wharves traded at $29.50 with the exchange of 1,740 units, Mayberry Investments lost 1 cent, closing at $4.69 with 298,018 shares, NCB Financial traded 49 cents lower to $88.50 with 35,806 shares, 138 Student Living exchanged 20,000 shares at $4.75, 
while 1834 Investments gained 4 cents to close at $1.44 with trades of 6,520 units. PanJam Investment jumped $3.50 to $39 with 61,275 shares, Pulse Investments gained 23 cents to close at $1.65, with 12,581 shares, Radio Jamaica added 1 cent, in closing at $1.12 trading 305,416 shares, Sagicor Group closed with a loss of 52 cents at $34 with 4,550 units, Sagicor Real Estate Fund declined 39 cents in closing at $10.61 with 10,000 shares, Salada Foods traded 3,316 units at $8, Scotia Group plunged $4.90 to $46.10, in exchanging 117,999 shares, Scotia Investments closed at $37 with 30,453 shares, Seprod ended with a loss of $1 at $33 with 500 units, Supreme Ventures exchanged 131,400 shares at $10.85. Margaritaville Turks US ordinary shares closed at 30 US cents trading 5,500 units, Proven Investments US ordinary shares traded 13,000 units at 24 US cents, JMMB Group US 6% preference share closed at US$1.12 with 7,280 units and Proven 8.25% cumulative redeemable preference share lost 5 cents to close at $5.25 with 20,000 units.
JSE rise on modest trading – Wednesday
Carreras jumped to a record close of $12.
In modest trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Wednesday, the prices of 10 stocks rose and 5 fell in the main and US dollar markets, leading to gains in the main market indices, the third consecutive day of increase.
Cigarette distributor, Carreras fresh from a 10 for 1 stock split, traded at a new 52 weeks’ high of $12 at the close while JMMB Group hit an intraday 52 weeks’ high of $23.70 before pulling back to $22 by the close as supply to sell is very limited and should pave the way for upward push in the price in the days or weeks ahead.
At the close of market activity, Berger Paints closed at $11, the last price the stock traded at, after hitting a high of $12.20 and ending with 129,140 shares changing hands. Cable and Wireless gained 5 cents to close at $1.10 with 111,500 units, Carreras closed at a record $12, after gaining 50 cents with 1,134,465 shares, Grace Kennedy advanced $1, settling at $43.01 with 4,332 units. Jamaica Broilers lost 29 cents and closed at $15.75, with 12,130 shares, Jamaica Producers lost 1 cent, closing at $15 in exchanging 18,700 stock units, Jamaica Stock Exchange rose 10 cents to $6.45 with 1,000 units, JMMB Group closed at $22, after gaining $1 and trading 20,959 shares. 
Kingston Wharves dropped $2.50 to close at $29.50 with 1,000 units having been exchanged, NCB Financial Group traded 99 cents lower to $88.99 with 34,831 shares. PanJam Investment remained at $35.50 with trades of 2,100 units, Pulse Investments closed at $1.42, gaining 2 cents with 183,000 shares, Radio Jamaica with gains of 6 cents, closed at $1.11, in trading 11,000 stock units, Sagicor Group added 2 cents, ending at $34.52 with 8,333 units changing hands, Salada Foods traded 88,783 shares at $8, Scotia Group closed at $51, exchanging 16,194 units, Seprod added $1 to close at $34 with 1,500 shares, Supreme Ventures closed 15 cents lower to $10.85 in exchanging 3,703 units. Productive Business Solution US ordinary shares closed at 65 US cents, trading 540 units, Proven Investments US ordinary shares traded 397 units at 23.99 US cents, JMMB Group 7.5% preference share closed at $1.19, gaining 4 cents with 26,540 stock units and Proven 8.25% cumulative preference share closed at $5.50 with 17,500 units.
Berger investors rebuffing Ansa offer
Berger Paints traded at a high as $11.55 on Tuesday.
The main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed trading with 25 securities changed hands, with declining stocks just edging out advancing ones, while 3 stocks traded in the US dollar market.
The market closed with 9 stocks advancing and 11 declining based on the price the trade took place.
Some noted trades include Berger Paints that continues to trade above the price on $10.88 offered by Ansa Coatings to acquire the minority holdings. Investors continue to rebuff the offer by buying the stock at the close at $11 with 153,142 shares changing hands, up to $11.55 and a low of $10.85. The stock closed with a bid to buy 103,462 units at $11 and just 2,935 units offered at $11.70 and few shares offered close to this range.
Some other trades of note are Jamaica Producers 4 million unit trade with the price dropping nearly $1 and a $3.75 jump in the price of Seprod.
At the close of market activity, Barita Investments traded at $8.15, having lost 85 cents with 4,900 units, Cable and Wireless lost 3 cents to close at $1.05 with 18,708 shares, Caribbean Cement traded $2 lower to $28 with only 240 units, Carreras closed at record high of $11.50, gaining 25 cents with 223,703 shares trading, Grace Kennedy fell 99 cents and settled at $42.01 with 11,117 shares. Jamaica Broilers closed at $16.04, losing 86 cents with just 200 units, Jamaica Producers dropped 99 cents to $15.01 exchanging 4,075,641 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange ended with a loss of 65 cents at $6.35 with 5,000 units, JMMB Group closed at $21 trading 14,000 shares. Kingston Properties closed at $7 with 598,296 shares changing hands, 
Kingston Wharves exchanged 1,500 units at $32, Mayberry Investments gained 20 cents, closing at $4.70 with 11,020 shares, NCB Financial Group traded 98 cents higher to $89.98 with 42,825 shares, 1834 Investments rose 10 cents and closed at $1.40 with 3,480 units. PanJam Investment gained $1.43, closing at $35.50 with 103,000 shares, Pulse Investments closed at $1.40, losing 30 cents with 58,680 shares trading, after the company released audited accounts showing lower profit in 2017 than in 2016, due mainly to the treatment of taxation. Sagicor Group closed with gains of 50 cents at $34.50 trading 8,700 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund closed at $11, after gaining 38 cents with 2,747 units, Salada Foods fell 50 cents, trading at $8 with 9,000 shares, Scotia Group closed $1 higher to $51 exchanging 147,026 shares, Seprod advanced $3.75 to $33 with 16,309 shares, Supreme Ventures closed 10 cents lower to $11 exchanging 145,884 shares. Productive Business Solution US ordinary share closed at 65 US cents trading 48,360 units, Proven Investments US ordinary share traded 27,635 units at 24 US cents, JMMB Group US 6% preference share exchanged 8,617 units at US$1.12, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.25% preference share closed at $2.50 with 650 units and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share lost 4 cents, closing at $1.15 with 100,000 units.
Scotia Group drops $2
Scotia Group price dropped as nine months results were soft.
Trading picked up on Thursday with value of trading increasing sharply over the low level on Wednesday, but the most prominent stock in the last two weeks, Scotia Group fell in response to lower than expected profits leading to a fall in the market indices.
The number of securities trading ended at 23 compared to 28 on Wednesday but the volume traded rose well ahead of Wednesday’s level at 6,273,419 units versus 2,295,944 units.
At the close of the market the volume of stocks changing hands and prices they last traded at, are Berger Paints exchanging 64,088 shares at $11, Cable and Wireless rising 9 cents, to $1.15 with 151,475 units, Caribbean Cement closing at $27.50 and losing 50 cents with 181,572 shares, Carreras closed at $108 with 20,739 stock units, Grace Kennedy with a loss of 5 cents, to end at $42 trading 1,480,399 shares. Jamaica Broilers dropped $1.05 to $15.75 with 696,244 shares, with investors reacting negatively to lower profit in the first quarter to July, with Net Profit from continuing operations coming in at $212.6 million versus $401.3 million. 
Jamaica Stock Exchange gained 2 cents to close at $6.51 with 288,079 shares, followed by JMMB Group that closed at $21.20, with a loss of 30 cents in exchanging 44,432 shares. Kingston Wharves ended with gains of 37 cents at $30.85 with 4,100 units, Mayberry Investments dropped 58 cents to $4.22, with 4,488 units, NCB Financial Group closed 25 cents higher to $90.25 with 44,389 shares, 138 Student Living traded 8,350 units at $4.75. PanJam Investment lost 40 cents to $33.85 with 400 units, Pulse Investments lost 5 cents, closing at $1.70 with 27,523 shares, Radio Jamaica fell by 16 cents, ending at $1.04 with 1,534,960 shares, Sagicor Group traded $1.28 higher to $34.53 with 32,438 stock units, Salada Foods gained 50 cents, ending at $8.50 trading 75,000 shares, Scotia Group closed $2 lower to $52 exchanging 182,331 units, Sterling Investments lost 10 cents to close at $11.90 with 264,322 shares, Supreme Ventures closed at $10.80, losing 20 cents with 5,722 units. Productive Business Solution US ordinary shares traded 6,820 units at 60 US cents, Proven Investments US ordinary shares closed at 23.99 US cents, with gains of 0.99 US cent, in exchanging 300,227 units and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.5% preference share traded 855,271 units at $2.
JSE trading dropped on Wednesday
Trading levels dropped sharply on the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange with 2 to 1 ratio to declining stocks on Wednesday but advancing stocks beat out declining ones more than 2 to 1.
Recent headliner Scotia Group traded up to $54 ahead of the results that were released after trading closed showing a reduction in profits for the third quarter.
At the close of the market, the volume of stocks changing hands and prices they last traded at are, Barita Investments closing at $9 with 100 units trading, Berger Paints ending with a loss of 50 cents, exchanging 25,657 shares to at $11, Cable and Wireless with a gain of 5 cents to $1.10 with 17,242 stock units. Carreras closed at $108 with 21,840 shares, Grace Kennedy ended at $42.05, gaining 5 cents with 21,302 shares. Jamaica Broilers shed 70 cents to $16.80, with 564,868 stock units, Jamaica Producers traded 25 cents higher to $15 with 124,041 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange exchanged 126,810 shares at $6.49, while JMMB Group closed at $21.50, with gains of 50 cents trading 87,322 stock units. Kingston Properties closed at $7 with 1,325 shares, 
Kingston Wharves ended with a loss of 2 cents, at $30.48 with 700 units, Mayberry Investments closed at $4.80, gaining 30 cents with 168,080 shares, NCB Financial Group surged $2.45 to $90 with 9,494 units, 1834 Investments traded 230,583 units at $4.75. PanJam Investment with gains of 40 cents, closed at $34.25 with 103,619 shares, Portland JSX closed at $9.30 with 950 units, Pulse Investments fell 7 cents, to $1.75 with 31,081 shares, Radio Jamaica closed at $1.20 with 243,587 units, Sagicor Group added 20 cents to close at $33.25 with 28,717 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund closed at $11 with 5,150 units, Salada Foods ended with a loss of 50 cents, to close at $8 trading 1,500 shares, Scotia Group gained $1 to $54, in exchanging 58,264 stock units, Seprod advanced $1.25 to $29.25 with 750 units, Sterling Investments ended at $12 with 61,000 shares, Supreme Ventures added 10 cents to $11 with 358,560 shares. Proven Investments US ordinary shares exchanged 1,606 units at 23 US cents, JMMB Group 7.25% preference share closed at $1.50 with 361 units and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share traded 1,435 units at $1.19 after losing 1 cent.
Scotia drops $5 to $55
Scotia Group drops $5 on the JSE on Monday.
Stocks most fell at the close of trading on main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Monday but with declining stocks outnumbered advancing ones after Scotia Group closed down $5 to $55 ahead of third quarter results this week.
The fall contributed by Scotia Group based on an average traded price of $55.52 was offset by average gains in the prices of JMMB Group and NCB Financial Group.
At the close of the market the volume of stocks changing hands and their last traded price are: Berger Paints that closed 65 cents lower to $11.50 with 49,098 shares, Cable and Wireless ending with a loss of 15 cents at $1.05 with 205,600 units, Caribbean Cement exchanged 2,850 stock units at $30, Carreras closed at $108 with 22,233 stocks trading, Grace Kennedy with a loss of 50 cents, closed at $41.50 with 950 shares. Jamaica Broilers closed at $17.20, trading 30 cents lower with 7,860 units, Jamaica Producers closed at $14.90, losing 10 cents with 2,105 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange gained 21 cents to close at $6.49 exchanging 800,513 stocks, JMMB Group closed at $21.50 with 24,941 stock units. Kingston Wharves rose 30 cents to $30.80 with 7,420 shares, Mayberry Investments gained 4 cents to $4.50 with 16,200 stock units, NCB Financial Group traded 63,952 shares at $90,1834 Investmentslost 6 cents, closing at $1.34 with 50,496 units. 
PanJam Investment added 35 cents to close at $33.85 with 18,041 shares, Pulse Investments fell 3 cents to close at $1.82 with 7,245 units, Radio Jamaica closed at $1.20 after losing 5 cents in exchanging 350,693 shares. Sagicor Group traded 25 cents lower to $33 with 23,198 stock units, Sagicor Real Estate Fund advanced $1.45 to $12.05 with 639 stocks trading, Salada Foods traded 1,000 shares at $8.50, Scotia Group closed $5 lower to $55 with 59,365 stock units, Scotia Investments gained 30 cents to close at $37.30 with 1,830,050 shares, Seprod declined $1.90, closing at $28 with 560,300 stocks changing hands, Sterling Investments closed at $12 with 511,200 shares and Supreme Ventures ended with a loss of 20 cents at $10.80 with 106,855 units. Proven Investments US ordinary share gained 0.99 US cent to close at 23 US cents trading 15,750 units, Productive Business Solution US ordinary share closed at 60 US cents with 1,000 units exchanged, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.25% preference share lost 1 cent, closing at $2.50 with 2,272 units and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.5% preference share exchanged 1,500 units at $2.