US$10 million more on Friday
Trading in Jamaica’s foreign exchange market saw another day when more purchases of the all foreign exchange currencies exceeded sales, with the net intake on Friday, being US$10 million and with the net US dollar currency intake being US$9 million. The positive net inflows did not stop the rate for selling the US dollar from rising by 11 cents.
In Friday’s trading, dealers bought US $37,477,625 and sold only US$27,548,721 compared to US$25,525,850 purchased and a mere US$18,693,739 sold on Thursday, of all currencies.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$34,686,488 compared to US$23,108,190 on Thursday. The buying rate for the US dollar rose 12 cents to close at $127.09. A total of US$25,787,049 was sold versus just US$17,244,935 on Thursday, with the selling rate rising 11 cents to end at $127.72. The Canadian dollar buying rate declined by 86 cents to $95.95, with dealers buying C$1,510,410 and selling C$1,022,589 at an average rate that declined by 49 cents to $97.85. The average rate for buying the British Pound dropped 39 cents to $165.60 for the purchase of £1,193,309 while only £601,003 was sold with the rate rising 15 cents to end at $169.99. At the end of trading, the selling rate for the Euro, fell $1.24 to close at J$144.88 from Thursday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, dealers purchased the European common currency at J$139.83 for a rise of $1.75 from the rate on Thursday. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded amounts to US$95,963 being bought, while US$178,310, was sold.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest traded rates, for the Jamaican dollar in the foreign exchange market on Thursday, include a drop of $3.59 in the highest buying rate for the Canadian Dollar to end at $98.41, a rise in the lowest selling rate of $1.80 to settle at $94.80. Trading in the British Pound resulted in a rise of $1.25 in the highest buying rate to close at $171.40 and a big dive of $24.04 in the lowest selling rate to $117.46.
5 junior stocks rise 4 fall – Friday
Trading ended with 844,487 units changing hands, 54 percent less than on Thursday, while the value traded dropped 41 percent from Thursday, with $5,439,011 changing hands on Friday. At the close 5 stocks gained, while 4 declined out of 12 securities that traded, down from 19 on Thursday.
Market activities ended with 5 securities closing with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 ending with lower offers as the supply of many stocks continue to evaporate.
At the close, AMG Packaging climbed $2.50 and ended at $19.20, with just 2,450 units changing hands, Caribbean Cream closed with 16,000 shares changing hands with a loss of 50 cents at $8, Consolidated Bakeries traded 18,293 shares to close at $2.20 after falling 5 cents. C2W Music closed at 20 cents with 40,000 units changing hands, General Accident traded 11,553 units to end at $2.30. Honey Bun traded 4,000 units and gained 2 cents to end at $5.52, Jamaican Teas rose 60 cents in trading just 1,133 shares to close at $4 but was on offer to sell 3,900 units at $3.80, Lasco Distributors ended with 689,330 shares changing hands and gained 35 cents to close at $7.05. Lasco Financial had just 100 shares changing hands at $3.50, for a loss of 2 cents, Lasco Manufacturing closed at $4.50 with 10,128 shares trading and tTech rose 25 cents in trading 1,500 shares at $5.25.
Stocks to watch in the coming week are AMG Packaging, Blue Power, Cargo Handlers, Caribbean Cream, Honey Bun, ISP Finance, Jetcon, Knutsford Express, Lasco Financial, Paramount and tTech. The supplies for most of these stocks have pretty much dried up around current prices.
TTSE slips on Friday
Trading activity on the Trinidad and Tobago stock market closed Friday with losses in the three market indices. Volume traded fell back from 732,985 units changing hands on Thursday only 89,258. At the close just 9 securities changed hands, just 2 rose, 4 fell while 3 remained unchanged.
Market activity ended with 133,041 shares valued at $1,194,344 changing hands, down from the $3,195,862 traded on Thursday.
The Composite Index declined 0.30 points to close at 1,155.81, the All T&T Index rose 0.41 points to close at 1,816.99 and the Cross Listed Index ended down by 0.14 points at 65.85.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator ended with 8 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 with offers that were lower.
Gains| Scotiabank gained 3 cents and closed with 1,890 shares changing hands at $57.60 and Trinidad and Tobago NGL closed at $23.69 with 26,671 units with a value of $631,820 trading, after rising 18 cents.
Losses| Bourse Brazil Latin Fund lost $1.40 and ended with 1,000 shares changing hands at $8.10 for a 52 weeks’ low, Clico Investment Fund closed with 4,745 shares changing hands, to end 1 cent lower at $22.64, Grace Kennedy ended with 68,440 shares trading as the price slipped 5 cents to $2.51 and L.J. Williams B share closed with 27,000 shares changing hands close at a 52 weeks’ low of 72 cents after slipping by 12 cents.
Firm Trades| First Citizens traded 2,170 units at $35, Guardian Holdings had 1,025 shares changing hands to end at $13.01 and Republic Financial Holdings ended with 100 shares changing hands at $109.99.
JSE main market climbs in early trading
The Jamaica Stock Exchange main market enjoyed strong gains in the indices in early Friday morning trading but with only limited volume changing hands in the overall markets. The junior market index slipped a bit with only a few securities trading in that market.
Trading of note so far took place for 106,580 Cable & Wireless shares with 181,615 shares in 1834 Investments changing hands while 59,745 shares of Grace Kennedy traded and JMMB Group had 275,597 units trading at $9.88 in the main market and in the junior market the stocks with the leading volumes traded are C2W Music with 40,000 units and Eppley Preference Shares 2019 had 50,000 units changing hands.
At 10:45 am 22 securities traded, resulting in a volume of 861,119 shares carrying a value of $8,593,129 changing hands compared to 5,070,164 shares carrying a value of $14,465,644 on Thursday. The average number of shares traded amounts to 39,142 units compared to 211,257 units on Thursday. The number of stocks falling are 10 while the prices of 8 securities rose as the market continues to consolidate.
The all Jamaica Composite Index jumped 947.08 points to 178,531.20, the Jamaica Stock Exchange Market Index gained 846.86 points to 160,680.41, the Jamaica Stock Exchange combined index climbed 680.28 points to close at 172,524.29 and the junior market index slipped 10.25 points to 2,288.60.
Jam. surplus FX rises again
Trading in Jamaica’s foreign exchange market saw another day when more purchases of the all foreign exchange currencies exceeded sales, with the net intake on Thursday, being US$7 million and with the net US dollar currency being US$6 million.
In Thursday’s trading, dealers bought US$25,525,850 and sold US$18,693,739 compared to US$29,014,871 purchased and US$34,171,553 sold on Wednesday, of all currencies.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$23,108,190 compared to US$26,580,347 on Wednesday. The buying rate for the US dollar rose 9 cents to close at $126.97. A total of US$17,244,935 was sold versus US$22,841,237 on Wednesday, with the selling rate declining 9 cents to end at $127.61. The Canadian dollar buying rate rose 21 cents to $96.81, with dealers buying C$1,456,349 and selling C$796,883 at an average rate that declined by 55 cents to $98.34. The average rate for buying the British Pound dropped $1.20 to $165.99 for the purchase of £838,096 while only £470,436 was sold with the rate falling $1.30 to end at $169.84. At the end of trading, the selling rate for the Euro, jumped $3.21 to close at J$146.12 from Wednesday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, dealers purchased the European common currency at J$138.03 for a rise of 72 cents from the rate on Wednesday. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded amounts to US$211,530 being bought, while US$208,586, was sold.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest traded rates, for the Jamaican dollar in the foreign exchange market on Thursday, include a rise of $1.55 in the highest buying rate for the Canadian Dollar to end at $102, a fall in the highest selling rate of $1.05 to settle at $103.50. Trading in the British Pound resulted in a fall of 45 cents in the highest buying rate to close at $170.15 and a big dive of $20.50 in the lowest selling rate to $141.50.
TTSE down on Thursday
Trading activity on the Trinidad and Tobago stock market closed Thursday with losses in the three market indices. Volume traded picked up with over 732,000 units changing hands compared with only 89,258 on Wednesday. At the close just 10 securities changed hands, just 4 rose, 3 fell while 3 remained unchanged.
Market activity ended with 732,985 shares valued at $3,195,862 changing hands, up from the $1,450,746 traded on Wednesday.
The Composite Index declined 0.50 points to close at 1,156.11, the All T&T Index fell 0.67 points to close at 1,816.58 and the Cross Listed Index ended unchanged at 65.99 with a loss of 0.05 points.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator ended with 9 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 with offers that were lower.
Gains| National Flour rose 6 cents, with 3,850 shares changing hands, to close at $2.41, Scotiabank rose 4 cents and closed with 1,671 shares changing hands, at $57.57, Trinidad and Tobago NGL closed at $23.51 with 2,500 units trading, after rising 1 cent and Trinidad Cement gained 2 cents and closed at $3.12 with 686,998 shares valued at $2,143,434 changing hands.
Losses| JMMB Group lost 1 cent and ended with 2,976 shares changing hands at 61 cents, National Enterprises closed with just 1,646 shares changing hands close at a 52 weeks’ low of $10.40 after slipping by 9 cents and Republic Financial Holdings ended with 1,793 shares changing hands at $109.99 with the loss of a cent.
Firm Trades| Clico Investment Fund closed with 25,992 shares valued at $326,637 changing hands, to end at $22.65, First Citizens traded 500 units at $35 and Guardian Holdings had 5,059 shares changing hands to end at $13.01.