Trinidad Cement closed at a 52 weeks’ high on Friday.
While the values of the Trinidad based company declined that for the wider Caribbean grew by nearly 58 percent and resulted in the Composite index rising but by only 4 percent. The market closed the year on a positive note, with the IC bid-offer Indicator | showing the strongest reading for the last two trading days of the year with just 2 stocks closing with bids that were lower than their last sale price.
Trading on Friday resulted in 11 securities changing hands compared to 13 on Thursday. Market activity ended with 5 stocks rising, 1 declining and 5 holding firm, with 262,813 shares being traded valued at $6,001,767 compared to 155,564 shares being traded valued at $1,446,576 on Thursday.
The Composite Index rose 3.37 points to end the year at 1,209.53, the All T&T Index gained 1.35 points to 1,834.23 with a year to date loss at 6 percent. The Cross Listed Index rose 0.71 points at 78.17 points with year to date gains of 57.89 percent.
IC bid-offer Indicator |The Investor’s Choice bid-offer ended with 5 stocks with bids higher than last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
Gains| Clico Investments Fund gained 1 cent in trading 665 units at $22.62, First Citizens Bank had 6,760 units trading with a gain of 25 cents to end at $35, JMMB Group traded 181,727 units to end at 90 cents with a 1 cent rise.
National Commercial Bank added 6,999 shares to stocks that traded and gained 10 cents to close at $3 and Trinidad Cement traded 2,000 units with a rise of 5 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $4.40.Losses| Grace Kennedy traded 730 shares but lost 1 cent to close at $2.67
Firm Trades| Massy Holdings contributed just 12,350 shares with a value of $642,200 to end at $52, Readymix West Indies closed trading with 5,000 shares trading at $10.99. Republic Financial Holdings with a volume of 44,125 shares valued at $4,784,915 changing hands, closed at $108.44, Trinidad and Tobago NGL traded 1,909 shares at $21 and Unilever Caribbean ended with 548 units trading, to end at $59.84.
The Jamaica Stock Exchange all Jamaica Composite Index jumped more than 2,800 points in early trading on Friday to sit less than 800 points from the 210,000 points level while the junior market rose above Thursday’s record close to break the 2,600 mark. 
The leading trades include Cable & Wireless has so far traded 4,063,060 units between 70 and 80 cents but last traded at 75 cents. Grace Kennedy 231,964 shares at $41.87, Jamaica Producers 453,416 at $9.20, Supreme Ventures 207,836 units at $5.30, Blue Power traded a 52 weeks’ high of $30 with 10,000 units changing hands, Iron Rock Insurance traded 563,234 units at $4, CAC 2000 gained 60 cents to $5.10 while 77,173 shares were traded following release of the company’s audited accounts showing the cost of the settlement of the lawsuit being in the region of $124 million.
The average trade for the day in the main market ended at 149740 shares compared to an average of 81,706 units traded on Wednesday. The average for the month to date stands at 176,057 shares compared to an average of 202,375 units for the month up to Wednesday. November ended with an average of 208,466 units.
JMMB Group traded 109,870 units and gained 51 cents to end at $14.99, Mayberry Investments fell 40 cents to end at $5 with 12,927 shares changing hands, National Commercial Bank ended at $49.76 with 5,915 shares changing hands, PANJAM Investment traded 4,325 shares and gained $3 to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $30. Sagicor Group lost $1 in closing with 81,850 shares changing hands at $29, Sagicor X Fund ended with 177,629 units trading with a gain of 55 cent to close at $12, Scotia Group with 130,524 shares changing hands, closed with a gain of 2 cents at $35.01. Scotia Investments gained $1 with 2,515 units trading to end at $31, Seprod jumped $2.30 to end at $29.80 with 7,850 units changing hands, Supreme Ventures traded 19,400 shares at $5.07 and Proven Investments closed at 21.95 US cents, with 16,578 units changing hands.
In foreign exchange trading on Thursday, net inflows continue to be positive with US$15 million, bringing the net inflows for December to $177 million with the Jamaican dollar gaining in value against the euro, was steady versus the Canadian dollar but slipping slightly against the others. 
Canadian dollar buying rate fell 53 cents to $93.47, with dealers buying C$3,517,657 and selling C$3,639,157 at an average rate that remained unchanged at $95.25. The average rate for buying the British Pound dropped 92 cents to $153.84 for the purchase of £2,305,644 while £976,838 was sold with a rise of 6 cents to end at $156.62.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest rates for the regularly traded foreign currencies on Thursday, include a recovery of $16.67 in the lowest selling rate of the US dollar to $120. The highest buying rate for the British Pound jumped $2.94 to $161.68, the lowest buying rate dropped $33.99 to $93 and lowest selling rate fell $1 to $151, while the lowest selling rate for the Euro jumped $20.44 to $128.50. 
One Caribbean Media fell 9 cents to end $19.90 with 195 shares and Unilever Caribbean lost 1 cent with 49 units trading, to end at 52 weeks low of $59.84.
with an average value of $1,192,249 on the preceding trading day. The average for December to date is 132,679 units, at an average of $679,346. The average for December to Wednesday is 136,554 units, at an average of $696,188. November ended with an average of 109,679 units with an average value of $607,092.
General Accident had 200,000 units changing hands to close at $3. Honey Bun had 19,264 shares changing hands to close at $5.80 after shedding 15 cents. Jetcon Corporation rose 10 cents to close at $6 with 85,022 shares trading, KLE Group lost 3 cents and closed with 50,100 shares trading at $1.92, Knutsford Express rose 44 cents in trading 2,790 shares at $19.99, Lasco Distributors ended with 14,088 units trading with a gain of 15 cents at $7.15. Lasco Financial lost 9 cents with 16,000 shares changing hands, to end at $3.11, Lasco Manufacturing gained 2 cents and ended at $5, after 318,553 units switched hands and Medical Disposables exchanged 500 units at $4.20.
Market activity resulted in 28 securities traded at 10:45 am, compared to 26 on Wednesday at 10:45 am. A total of 10 securities advanced and 6 declined, resulting in a volume of just 463,915 shares changing hands, carrying a value of $3,009,378, compared 721,003 shares changing hands, carrying a value of $1,962,803 on Wednesday. The average number of shares traded, amount to 16,568 units versus 27,731 units on Wednesday. The leading trades include Lasco Manufacturing with 200,000 units changing hands at $5 and Cable & Wireless has so far traded 150,000 units at 71 cents.
The junior market index closed at a new all-time high on Wednesday, as advancing stocks were edged out by declining ones pushing the market index up by 20.38 points to end at 2,573.55 points with a 44 percent increase for the year to date. 
An average of 181,822 units with an average value of $1,192,249 traded, compared to 41,940 units with an average value of $180,950 on the preceding trading day. The average for December to date is 136,554 units, at an average of $696,188. The average for December to Friday is 133,892 units, at an average of $667,008. November ended with an average of 109,679 units with an average value of $607,092.
Jetcon Corporation rose 2 cents to close at $5.90 with 1,094,291 shares trading, KLE Group closed with 1,504 shares trading at $1.95, Knutsford Express traded 6,700 shares at $19.55, Lasco Distributors ended with 1,117,322 units trading with a gain of 25 cents at $7. Lasco Financial lost 5 cents with 21,345 shares changing hands, to end at $3.20, Lasco Manufacturing ended at $4.98, after 147,247 units switched hands, Paramount Trading exchanged 64,362 units at $3 and tTech traded 1,079 units with a rise of 5 cents to close at $5.30.
The Canadian dollar buying rate fell 49 cents to $94, with dealers buying C$9,075,794 and selling C$8,755,639 at an average rate that fell 11 cents to finish at $95.25. The average rate for buying the British Pound dropped 33 cents to $154.76 for the purchase of £1,903,806 while £934,004 was sold with a fall of $1.06 to end at $156.56.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest rates for the regularly traded foreign currencies on Wednesday, include a fall of $16.67 in the lowest selling rate of the US dollar to $103.33. The highest selling rate for the Canadian dollar fell $1.08 to end at $98.82. The highest buying rate for the British Pound lost $1.23 to $158.74, the lowest buying rate fell $1.25 to $126.99, the highest selling rate climbed $3.34 to $165.24, the highest buying rate for the Euro dropped $2.47 to $123.80 and the lowest selling rate dived $19.94 to $108.06. 
