Trading the Jamaican Stock Exchange is off to a slow start with the main market indices falling while the juniors was up slightly after 75 minutes of trading on Monday. An average of 27,944 per active stock traded, up from an average of 1.4 million units traded in the mid-morning session on Friday. The average on Friday was pushed up by a 43.6 million units of RJR.
A total of 24 securities, accounting for only 670,666 shares changed hands at 10.45 am as 7 stocks gained and 3 declined, reversing the negative trend in place for a few trading days. The only trade of note has been Scotia Group with 2,441 units trading at $32.99 compared with the last price on Friday, of $30 and Cable & Wireless trading 22,817 shares, with a 8 cents gain, taking the price to $1.09 but now has a bid at $1.12 to buy 150,000 units, a total of 964,692 units were offered for sale at $1.20.
Supreme Ventures has 10,053,513 units on offer at $5 but with the bid at $4.86 for 1,601 shares.
The market saw all Jamaica Composite Index fell 249.28 points to 169,681.55, the JSE Market Index dipped 222.90 points to 152,767.43 the JSE combined index ending with a fall of 148.98 points to 160,377.68 and the junior market index moved up by 5.63 points to 1,820.00.
Juniors up majors down early Monday
Scotia positive on Jamaica
Jamaica’s creditworthiness is improving, Scotiabank’s economic units stated in the economic Executive Briefing on Jamaica. Fitch recently upgraded the country’s sovereign credit rating to “B” and assigned it a “stable” outlook Scotiabank Economic report says.
The revision reflects the successful implementation of the IMF program, strengthening external finances, and decreasing public debt the report stated. The report goes on to state, “Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s rate Jamaica in the “B” (stable outlook) and “Caa2” (positive outlook) categories, respectively. According to the IMF, the public sector debt reduction program is estimated to lower the general government debt-to-GDP ratio to below 115% in 2017 from 124.7% in 2015. Indeed, the buyback of PetroCaribe debt in August 2015 at a discounted face value lowered the country’s public debt ratio by 10 percentage points and will ease the external debt repayment burden.”
Big drop again for TTSE – Friday
Scotiabank at a new 52 weeks’ low on TTSE.
The market closed with the Composite Index declined by 10.05 points to close at 1,142.63, the All T&T Index fell by 19.89 points to close at 1,831.46 and is down by 6.3 percent since the start of the year and the Cross Listed Index declined by 0.01 points to 60.25.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator ended with 5 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 6 with offers that were lower. More telling is the fact that about a third of the listings have no bids to buy.
Gains|Prestige Holdings with 2,812 units changing hands ended at a 52 weeks’ high of $11.21 to record a gain of 5 cents.
Losses| ANSA McAL contributed 39,272 shares valued at $2,485,487 but lost 33 cents in closing at a 52 weeks’ low of $63.35, First Citizens lost 24 cent in closing at $34.74 with only 287 units changing hands. LJ Williams B share lost 2 cents in closing at 97 cents with 250 units changing hands, Massy Holdings ended with a loss of 71 cents with 5,000 shares changing hands at a new 52 weeks’ low of $55.99, National Enterprises closed with 11,640 shares changing hands at to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $10.50 after falling by $1, Sagicor Financial Corporation traded 100 units at $6.98
after slipping by 1 cent, Scotiabank traded 2,173 shares but dropped by $1.97 to end at a 52 weeks’ low of $57.49.Firm Trades| Clico Investments Fund ended with a volume of 70,873 shares valued at $1,598,142 to end at $22.55, Grace Kennedy traded 100 shares to end at $5.20, LJ Williams 8% preference share traded 200 units at $3.30. Trinidad and Tobago NGL ended trading 21,157 shares with a value of $403,041 at $19.05 and Unilever Caribbean had 395 shares trading at $65.99.
Sharp fall for JSE – Tuesday
Iron Rock Insurance traded for the first time since it went public earlier in March with 1,000 shares changing hands at $3.51 and is up from $3 per share it was offered to the public at.
The Jamaica Stock Exchange has gotten off to a rocky start on Tuesday big losses the main market indices in early trading but the junior market enjoyed moderate gain. Fall in the prices of some big capitalization stocks rock the indices. Falling are Cable & Wireless with a loss of 5 cents to $1.37, National Commercial at $40.5o down 50 cents, 
Sagicor Group lost 95 cents to be trading at $22.05, Scotia Group lost $54 cents to be at $30.46 and Scotia Investments trades at $26.30 down from $28.
After 75 minutes of the market’s opening, 29 securities traded, accounting for 11,795,810 shares changing hands. A total of 5 stocks gained and 13 declined.
The all Jamaica Composite Index dropped 2,026.54 points to 168,402.89, the JSE Market Index slipped 1,813.37 points to 151,622.41, the JSE combined index ended with a fall of 1,532.81 points to 160,439 but the junior market index rose gained 19.26 points to 1,934.03.
Jamaica Broilers traded 3,268,865 shares at $14.50, JMMB Group 7.50% traded 8,000,000 units but fell 13 cents to $1.07. Cargo Handlers traded at a new high of $43 with only 126 units changing hands and Lasco Manufacturing traded 8,450 units at $3.90 versus $3.50 it closed at on Monday.
TTSE stocks closed down – Monday
Grace Kennedy closed at a 52 weeks’ high on Monday
The slide on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange continued on Monday with trading ended with 271,900 shares valued at $5,178,918 changing hands. A total of 12 securities traded with 3 falling, one gaining while 8 remained unchanged. A total of 1 stock closed at a 52 weeks’ low and one at a 52 weeks’ high.
The market closed with the Composite Index falling 1.07 points to close at 1,159.44, the All T&T Index dropping 1.62 points to close at 1,865.06 and the Cross Listed Index declined by 0.07 points to close at 60.22.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator ended with 3 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 10 with offers that were lower. More telling is the fact that about a third of the listings have no bids to buy.
Gains| Grace Kennedy gained 2 cents to close with 500 units changing hands to close at $5.15.
Losses| JMMB Group traded 15,406 shares to close with a loss of 2 cents at 58 cents. Massy Holdings ended with 60,200 shares with a value of $3,426,958 changing hands as the price dropped $1.04 to end at a 52 weeks’ low of $56.75 and Scotia Investments closed with a loss of 5 cents at $1.75 while trading 98,856 shares.
Firm Trades|Clico Investments traded 26,975 shares with a value of $608,779 to close at $22.55, First Citizens traded 16,000 shares at $34.99, Firstcaribbean International Bank closed with 19,723 units changing hands at $6.50, National Commercial Bank had 25,000 shares changing hands to close at $2.40, National Flour closed with 3,400 shares changing hands at $1.95. Point Lisas closed with 5,000 shares trading to close at $4, Sagicor Financial Corporation closed with 6,569 shares changing hands to close at $7 and Trinidad and Tobago NGL ended trading 7,677 shares to close at $19.
5 TTSE stocks closed at lows – Friday
Massy trades at a new low
Trading ended with 1,626,064 shares valued at $5,597,508 changing hands. A total of 18 securities traded with 7 security falling, 4 gaining while 7 remained unchanged. A total of 5 stocks closed at a 52 weeks’ low.
The market closed with the Composite Index falling 2.61 points to close at 1,160.51, the All T&T Index dropping 4.87 points to close at 1,866.68 and the Cross Listed Index declined by 0.05 points to close at 60.29.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator has turned negative with 4 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 6 with offers that were lower. More telling is the fact that a third of the listings have no bids to buy.
Gains| JMMB Group traded 15,406 shares to close with a gain of 2 cents at 60 cents. National Flour closed with 19,525 shares changing hands with a gain of 10 cents at $1.95, Sagicor Financial Corporation closed with 84,981 shares changing hands with a value of $594,867 at $7 after rising 1 cent and Trinidad and Tobago NGL jumped 75 cents in trading 55,321 shares valued at $1,050,007 to close at $19.
Losses| Ansa McAl contributed 84 shares in closing with a loss of 7 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ low of $63.68, Massy Holdings ended with 39 shares changing hands as the price dropped 5 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ low of $57.79. Mora Ven Holdings traded for the first time had just 1 units changing hands but shed $1.09 to close at a new low of $17.70, National Enterprises closed with 10,080 shares changing hands at $12.50 after declining 50 cents, to close at a 52 weeks’ low. READYMIX traded just 1 share but dropped $1.09 to close at a new low of $17.70, after it failed to trade for several months, having exhibited weak demand, Scotiabank closed with 15 shares changing hands to end at $59.72 after slipping 2 cents and Scotia Investments closed with a loss of 20 cents at $1.80 while trading 112,064 shares.
Firm Trades| Berger Paint ended with 900 shares changing hands to close at $3.68, Clico Investments traded 16,150 shares to close at $22.55, Firstcaribbean International Bank closed with 4,042 units changing hands at $6.50. Grace Kennedy close with 500 units changing hands to close at $5.13, Guardian Media traded 100 shares to close at $19.75, National Commercial Bank had 1,280,044 shares valued at $ $3,072,106 changing hands to close at $2.40 and Trinidad Cement closed with a loss of 1 cent at $3.70 with 26,812 shares changing hands.
JSE’s main indices get hit – Wednesday
The Jamaica Stock Exchange continues to struggle in the early morning session on Wednesday with very moderate trading as investors continue to digest results of companies and the impact of the change in government.
After 75 minutes of the market opening, 27 securities traded, accounting for only 1,657,243 shares changing hands. A total of 7 stocks declined and 10 rose.
The all Jamaica Composite Index dived 1,047.22 points to 170,499.09, the JSE Market Index dropped 937.06 points to 153,498.11, the JSE combined index lost 830.99 points to 162,383.22 and the junior market index rose 5.81 points to 1,953.80.
Lasco Distributors traded steady with 763135 at $5.50, Caribbean Cement rose $1.55 with 104,207 shares to trade at $22.05, JMMB Group traded 254,607 units at $10.50, Jamaica Producers traded 40,581 shares but lost $1 to be trading at $29 and Scotia Investments traded 100,000 to recover from $26.63 at the close on Tuesday to $28.
JSE majors up juniors drop sharply
Juniors stocks got hit hard in early trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange with the index falling 3 percent as 6 stocks in fell including all two of the Lasco companies as one stock gained after 90 minutes of trading.
A total of 16 stocks fell and only 9 rose as 36 securities have been active with 5,052,661 units changing hands of which Ciboney makes up more than half.
Attempts were made to trade Barita Investments at $3 with 35,250 units changing hands but the trade was cancelled as it exceeded 30 percent for the day, this is following the company’s release of first quarter results which showed a fall in profit as a result of increased cost, the stock traded at $4.20, Ciboney traded 2,953,517 units at 13 cents Scotia Group had 1,053,652 shares changing hands at $32.80, AMG Packaging fell to $14 after the stock traded as high as $21.50 last week on low volume and tTech traded at $5.
The all Jamaica Composite Index gained 285.01 points to 175,058.19, the JSE Market Index rose 255.02 points to 157,577.63, the JSE combined index fell 340.25 points to 168,240.49 and the junior market index dropped 64.27 points to 2,176.36.
Big gains in early JSE trading
The Jamaica Stock Exchange got off to a rousing start to make a big recovery from the two previous days of big losses in the main market indices with the all Jamaica index rising over 2,900 points. The junior market index rose by 18 points in the process and a number of stocks traded at new highs as the bullishness of the market continues apace.
After 75 minutes of trading Jamaican Teas traded 33,948 shares up to $6.85 for a new all-time high, also trading at new 52 weeks’ highs are Berger Paints with 18,250 units at $4.90, Pulse Investments traded 13,268 units at a new high of $4.50 and Seprod with 11624 units at $22. Trading resulted in 37 securities being active amounting to 1,561,289 units as 18 stocks recorded gains and 5 declined.
Big gains were recorded by Grace Kennedy up by $2 to $85, National Commercial Bank up by $2 to $43, Pan Jam Investment with a gain of $1.50 to $97.50 but with Scotia Group dropping to $3 from $34.
The all Jamaica Composite Index rose 2,929.63 points to 179,434.40, the JSE Market Index jumped 2,618.78 points to 161,493.51, the JSE combined index gained 2,635.56 points to 173,219.49 and the junior market index rose 18.41 points to 2,318.79 as this market continues to make recovery from recent declines.
Where are Gleaner’s Q4 results?
I get the impression that the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) no longer balances shareholder interests with listed companies’ interests. Here’s what I mean.
1. Duke Corporation (PriceWaterHouse) failed to pay the Scotia Group’s dividend on April 15th, and claimed that they notified the public via print and electronic media on April 14th. They further claim that they notified the JSE at the same time. Up to today, no such notice has appeared on the JSE website.
2. Supreme Ventures announced a directors’ meeting for April 28th to consider a dividend payment. Despite the JSE rules requiring companies to inform the public of the result of such meetings, with 48 hours, so far, nothing has appeared on the JSE website about it.
3. Gleaner should have published 2015 results up to December, but chose to change their financial to March 31st (i.e. 5 quarters for 2015). No problem, but does that change eliminates their responsibility to publish information for the quarter ending December 2015? What could possibly justify shareholders being kept in the dark about the company’s financial information from October 2015 to March, 2016 – which will not be seen until the end of May, 2016?
A concerned investor.
IC Insider’s Comments
Your views are well founded. For example the issue of the non-reporting of Gleaners December quarterly result was discussed with the stock exchange. The RMOD department gave some flimsy excuse for not requiring it. The JSE rules require either audited accounts within 60 days of the year-end or quarterly report within 45 days of each quarter. Since Gleaner had shifted the year-end then the rules require that they must submit the quarterly to December within 45 days. Discussions were also held with the General Manager of the exchange who agreed that the quarterly is required. To date shareholders are still in the dark on the financial data. Why the Gleaner never saw it wise to keep their shareholders informed by releasing the data, is a big puzzle. After all, other companies in the past that changed year-ends have release the 4th quarter results. As recently as December, last year Access released theirs having changed their year-end to March.
There seems to be a failure in the system to appreciate that the maintenance of the integrity of the system is paramount to protecting investors while at the same time sending a clear message that the system works and can be relied on. Quite a bit of what is allowed to take place is inimical to the growth and development of the capital market.