The junior market declined moderately on Wednesday with just 9 securities changing hands as trading ended with 1,960,611 units, valued at $11,818,736 changing hands. At the close 3 stocks rose
while 3 declined with one closing at new highs. The market index fell 7.61 points to close at 2,230.46.
At the end of trading 7 stocks closed with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 ended with lower offers.
At the close, Caribbean Cream had 418,620 shares changing hands, but fell 5 cents to close at $7, Consolidated Bakeries traded 81,150 units to end at $2.50, C2W Music traded 11,000 shares and lost 2 cent to end at 28 cents, Honey Bun had 38,815 shares changing hands with a gain of 1 cent, to close at $5.60. 
Jamaican Teas traded 3,286 units to close at $3.80, Jetcon Corporation traded 326,248 shares and gained 30 cents to close at $3, following the company’s six months’ results, showing strong gains in profit over the 2015 period. Lasco Distributors ended with 1,054,718 shares changing hands at $7, Lasco Financial gained 10 cents while trading 13,000 units to close at $3.40 and Lasco Manufacturing closed at $4.97 with 13,774 shares trading, after falling 3 cents.
Juniors suffer small fall – Wednesday
Scotia pushes JSE early Wednesday
Scotia Group stock price surged $3.42 seconds before 10:45AM with 525,810 shares trading at $32.43, after the Jamaica Stock Market indices rose modestly in early trading, but fell back modestly ahead of the Scotia Group jump. Trading on Wednesday remains moderate with only a few stocks trading reasonable volumes at this time of the day.
Jamaica Producers Group (JPG) is the second leading trade with 486,781 units as the price rose 30 cents to $8.20, there are no JPG stock currently being offered for sale. Other noticeable trades include Cable & Wireless with 273,653 units at $1.06, Consolidated Bakeries with 48,150 shares at $2.50, after the company posted profit for the six months to June of $27 million versus $15 million in 2015 with earnings per share ending at 12 cents for the period an just 2 cents for the June quarter. Honey Bun traded 38,815 shares at $5.60 and Jetcon Corporation with 64,203 units at $2.85, with a 15 cents gain.
The market indices all fell in the main and junior markets, with 8 stocks gaining versus 6 that fell.
At 10:45 am only 19 securities traded, resulting in a volume of 1,538,095 shares changing hands. The average number of shares traded amounts to 80,952 units compared to 123,831 units on Tuesday.
The all Jamaica Composite Index surged 1,799.16 points to 180,075.01, the Jamaica Stock Exchange Market Index climbed 1,608.77 points to 162,060.85, the Jamaica Stock Exchange combined index gained 1,415.02 points to close at 173,208.97 and the junior market index lost 7.53 points to 2,230.54.
Stock pile rises further to US$177M – Tuesday
Authorized dealers added to their stockpile of foreign exchange driving it up by US$12 million Tuesday, bringing the net purchases since the end of June, to US$177 million by Jamaica’s foreign exchange dealers.
In Tuesday’s trading, dealers bought US$49,290,241 and sold US$37,062,318 compared to US$51,667,783 purchased and US$35,418,341 sold on Monday, of all currencies.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$47,271,163 compared to US$46,205,956 on Monday. The buying rate for the US dollar rose 23 cents to $126.49. A total of US$35,570,768 was sold versus US$32,601,043 on Monday, with the selling rate rising 4 cents to end at $127.03. 
The Canadian dollar buying rate rose 68 cents to end at $95.26, with dealers buying C$1,094,482 and selling C$799,637 at an average rate that rose $1.46 to $98.44. The average rate for buying the British Pound dropped $2.53 to $160.21 for the purchase of £812,742, while £483,897 was sold to end at $164.02, for a rise of 60 cents.
At the end of trading, the selling rate for the Euro, dropped 53 cents to close at J$142.20 from Monday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded amounts to US$165,383 being bought, while US$247,048 was sold.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest traded rates, for the Jamaican dollar in the foreign exchange market on Tuesday, include a fall of $1.30 in the highest buying rate of Canadian Dollar to close at $98.20, a jump of $1.12 in the lowest buying rate to end at $78.97, while the highest selling rate rose $1.39 to $102.69 and the lowest selling rate declined by $1.50 to $90. Trading in the British Pound resulted in a drop of $2.20 in the highest buying rate to $164.80, the highest selling rate dropped $3.85 to close at $168.68 and lowest selling rate rose $3 to close of $159.
JSE falls on Tuesday
NCB fell $1.25 to help the JSE indices fall .
Trading closed with 6,763,382 units valued at $72,594,150 changing hands, in all market segments. The junior market accounted for 1,683,513 units, valued at $7,988,309 of all trades.
The JSE Market Index fell 164.30 points to end at 160,452.08, the all Jamaica Composite Index lost 183.75 points to close at 178,275.85 and a sharp rise in the prices of junior market stocks helped push the JSE combined index up by 687.44 points, to end at 171,793.95.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 11 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.
At the end of market activities, Barita Investments lost 20 cents and ended trading 40,000 units, to close at $2.80, Berger Paints fell 16 cents in trading 8,500 units, to close at $5, Cable & Wireless traded 122,850 shares but gained 5 cents to close at $1.15, Caribbean Cement fell $1.49 in trading 7,350 shares to close at $25.51. Carreras rose 45 cents, in trading 171,221 shares to end at $65.50, the price of 1834 Investments gained 2 cents, in trading 62,658 shares, to end at $1.40, Grace Kennedy fell 50 cents and ended at $46 with 216,244 shares changing hands, Jamaica Broilers dropped 49 cents in trading 41,665 shares to end at $14.51. Jamaica Producers rose 10 cents to close at $8 with 6,971 units trading, Jamaica Stock Exchange had 42,200 units changing hands to close at $21.50, JMMB Group traded 2,537,927 units to end with a rise of 1 cent at $9.87. Kingston Wharves traded 8,200 shares to close at $15.55 after rising 45 cents, 
Mayberry Investments gained 15 cents and ended with 10,086 shares trading to close at $4.10, National Commercial Bank had 62,942 units changing hands, to close at $40.25 after falling $1.25. Pan Jamaican Investments gained 10 cents to close at $25.30 after trading 50,062 shares, Radio Jamaica gained 5 cents to close at $1.70 after 59,429 shares changed hands, Sagicor Group fell 50 cents with 246,165 shares changing hands at $21, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 25,500 shares but lost 22 cents to close at $10. Scotia Group traded 11,402 shares to end at $29.01 after rising by 1 cent, Supreme Ventures closed at $4.70 with 1,232,612 shares changing hands, Proven Investments ordinary share traded 8,300 units at 19.97 US cents compared to 19.98 US cents on Monday and JMMB Group 7.50% preference share traded 87,835 units at $1.10.
Juniors make full recovery – Tuesday
ISP Finance closed at a new high on Tuesday.
ISP Finance Services is the only stock trading at new highs on Tuesday. At the end of trading 7 stocks closed with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 ended with lower offers.
At the close, AMG Packaging rose by 62 cents, to close with 24,500 units changing hands at $13.12,
Cargo Handlers ended with 3,719 shares changing hands at $72, after trading at an intraday high of $72.02. Caribbean Cream had 3,030 shares changing hands, to close at $7.05, Caribbean Flavours traded 2,900 units to end at $7 with a gain of 48 cents, Caribbean Producers fell 13 cents, in trading 63,478 units to close at $3.30, Consolidated Bakeries traded 80,000 units and lost 5 cents, to end at $2.50. Derrimon Trading ended at $3.05 with 35,868 shares changing hands, General Accident had 239,266 shares changing hands to close 20 cents higher, at $2.20. Honey Bun had 84,181 shares changing hands with a gain of 6 cents, to close at $5.59, ISP Finance Services had 34,654 shares changing hands with a rise of 22 cents to end at 52 weeks’ high of $5. 
Jamaican Teas traded 9,000 units and fell 20 cents to close at $3.80, Jetcon Corporation traded 99,225 shares and gained 1 cent to close at $2.70, after trading as high as $3. Knutsford Express closed with 176 units changing hands at $20. Lasco Distributors ended with a rise of 20 cents while 222,361 shares changed hands at $7, Lasco Financial traded 43,419 units to close at $3.30, Lasco Manufacturing closed at $5 with 705,000 shares trading, after rising 48 cents. Medical Disposables traded 28,247 shares to close at $3.50 and tTech dropped 65 cents and ended with 4,489 units changing hands at $3.85.
TTSE advancers = decliners – Tuesday
Trading activity on the Trinidad and Tobago stock market continued with low volumes and when it closed on Tuesday, 11 securities changed hands, resulting in a mere 43,810 shares valued at $787,615 being traded. At the close, 3 stocks rose, 3 declined and 5 remained unchanged, leading to marginal changes in all the market indices. One stock closed at 52 weeks’ lows and one at a 52 weeks’ high.
The Composite Index fell 1.16 points to close at 1,148.29, the All T&T Index declined 2.30 points to close at 1,811.95 and the Cross Listed Index is unchanged at 64.49.
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| Clico Investment Fund advanced by 5 cents to end at $22.70 with 2,569 shares trading, Guardian Holdings closed with 18,340 shares changing hands and gained 1 cent to end at $15.55 and Scotiabank gained 6 cents to close with 4,249 shares at $55.58.
Losses| First Citizens dipped 50 cents in trading 700 units, to end at $35, Massy Holdings closed with 499 shares changing hands with the loss of 1 cent at $55.98 and Unilever Caribbean traded 15 units to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $64.32 after falling 8 cents.
Firm Trades| Ansa Merchant Bank traded 200 units to end at $40, National Enterprises ended with 1,972 shares changing hands to close at $10.50, Prestige Holdings traded 635 shares to close at $10.80, Trinidad and Tobago NGL closed with 5,384 shares changing hands at $23.75 and Trinidad Cement ended at $3.05 with 9,247 shares changing hands.
Juniors regain Monday’s losses
Trading levels climbed from Monday’s low level at 10:45 am with several stocks trading over 50,000 units with JJMB Group trading nearly 3 million units.
Stocks trading at a new 52 weeks’ high are Cargo Handlers at $72.02, ISP Finance Services at $5.22. Other noticeable trades include Cable & Wireless with 105,961 units at $1.15, Caribbean Producers with 50,000 units at $3.20, Honey Bun traded 75,372 shares at $5.53, JMMB Group traded 2,537,927 units at $9.87, JMMB Group 7.50% preference share traded 87,835 units at $1.10, Jetcon Corporation with 48,827 units at $3, Lasco Distributors with 217,361 shares at $6.55, Lasco Manufacturing with 665,561 units at $5, Sagicor Group had 170,700 units at $21.50.
The market indices all fell in the main and junior markets, with 11 stocks gaining versus 11 that fell.
At 10:45 am 34 securities traded, resulting in a volume of 4,210,256 shares changing hands. The average number of shares traded amounts to 123,831 units compared to 43,230 units on Monday.
The all Jamaica Composite Index dropped 703.50 points to 177,756.10, the Jamaica Stock Exchange Market Index fell 629.05 points to 159,987.33, the Jamaica Stock Exchange combined index climbed 256.95 points to close at 171,363.46 points and the junior market index gained 81.91 points to 2,238.13.
US$16M added to stock pile – Monday
Authorized dealers held on to US$49 million in total foreign exchange purchased sine last week Monday, while the selling rate for the Jamaica versus the US dollar slid by 31 cents as US$16 million more was added to the stock pile by dealers. Monday’s net purchase puts the surplus bought since the end of June, to US$165 million by Jamaica’s foreign exchange dealers.
In Monday’s trading, dealers bought US$51,667,783 and sold US$35,418,341 compared to US$32,516,814 purchased and US$22,897,652 sold on Friday, of all currencies.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$46,205,956 compared to US$29,161,988 on Friday. The buying rate for the US dollar rose 9 cents to $126.26.
A total of US$32,601,043 was sold versus US$21,536,270 on Friday, with the selling rate rising 6 cents to end at $126.99. The Canadian dollar buying rate rose 14 cents to end at $94.58, with dealers buying C$1,666,225 and selling C$807,331 at an average rate that fell 7 cents to $96.98. The average rate for buying the British Pound climbed 36 cents to $162.74 for the purchase of £3,041,453, while £1,392,745 was sold to end at $164.62, for a rise of 83 cents.
At the end of trading, the selling rate for the Euro, jumped $1.70 to close at J$142.73 from Friday’s rate, 
according to data from Bank of Jamaica, currency at J$137.02 for a jump of $2.72 from the rate on Wednesday. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded amounts to US$293,394 being bought, while US$395,203 was sold.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest traded rates, for the Jamaican dollar in the foreign exchange market on Monday, include a rise of $1.70 in the highest buying rate of Canadian Dollar to close at $99.50, a jump of $11.90 in the lowest selling rate to end at $91.50. Trading in the British Pound resulted in a drop of $2 in the lowest selling rate to close of $156.
Juniors dropped sharply – Monday
The two big Lasco companies hit the junior market index hard on Monday.
Stocks trading at new highs are Blue Power, Cargo Handlers and Paramount Trading. At the end of trading 6 stocks closed with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 ended with lower offers.
At the close, Blue Power rose by 50 cents, to close with 765 units changing hands at an all-time high of $17, CAC 2000 traded 5,000 shares but fell 40 cents, to close at $6, Cargo Handlers jumped $4 and ended with 1,500 shares changing hands, at an all-time high of $72. Caribbean Cream lost 25 cents with 2,500 shares changing hands, to close at $7.05, Caribbean Producers fell 2 cents, in trading 11,065 units at $3.43, Consolidated Bakeries traded 26,500 units, to end at $2.55, General Accident had 88,928 shares changing hands to close 8 cents lower, at $2. Honey Bun had 115,709 shares changing hands with a loss of 17 cents, to close at $5.53, Iron Rock Insurance traded 4,768 units and fell 2 cents to close at $3.28, ISP Financial Services had 800 shares changing hands with a loss of 15 cents to end at $5. 
Jetcon Corporation traded 37,411 shares at $2.69, Key Insurance traded 75,413 units to close at $2.50, Knutsford Express closed with 19,324 units changing hands at $20 after rising by 75 cents. Lasco Distributors ended with a loss of 20 cents while 646,920 shares changed hands at $7, Lasco Financial traded 155,762 units and gained 4 cents to close at $3.30, Lasco Manufacturing closed at $4.52 with 330,420 shares trading, but lost 43 cents. Medical Disposables traded 2,700 shares to close at $3.50, Paramount Trading climbed 60 cents to end with 123 shares changing hands at a new high of $12.10 and tTech ended with 400 units changing hands at $4.50.
JSE stocks end with gains – Monday
The Jamaica Stock Market main market made gains in the two main indices at post losses at the end the close of trading on Monday. At the end of trading with the prices of 14 securities gaining out of a total of 46 securities that traded, with 19 declining in the overall market, including 5 stocks, rising and 9 falling from the junior market.
Trading closed with a volume of 3,417,026 units valued at $37,563,031 changing hands, in all market segments. The junior market accounted for 1,526,008 units traded, valued at $8,120,692 of all trades.
The JSE Market Index climbed 531.05 points to end at 160,616.38, the all Jamaica Composite Index gained 593.90 points to close at 178,459.60 and a sharp fall in the prices of junior market stocks pressured the JSE combined index in losing 330.86 points, to end at 171,106.51.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the 
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 11 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.
At the end of market activities, Barita Investments ended trading with 396,428 units, to close at $3, Berger Paints climbed 36 cents in trading 3,766 units, to close at $5.16, Cable & Wireless traded 156,837 shares but lost 5 cents to close at $1.10, Caribbean Cement fell 99 cents in trading 5,403 shares to close at $27. Carreras fell $1.22, in trading 5,028 shares to end at $65.05, the price of 1834 Investments gained 3 cents, in trading 43,192 shares, to end at $1.38, Grace Kennedy ended at $46.50 with 210,612 shares changing hands, Jamaica Broilers dropped 54 cents in trading 1,720 shares to end at $15. Jamaica Producers dropped 30 cents to close at $7.90 with 87,115 units trading, Jamaica Stock Exchange had just 300 units changing hands to close at $21.50, JMMB Group traded 162,686 units to end at $9.86. 
Kingston Wharves traded 37,739 shares to close at $16 after rising 45 cents, Mayberry Investments ended with 5,937 shares trading to close at $3.95, National Commercial Bank had 111,022 units changing hands, to close at $42 after falling 50 cents. Pan Jamaican Investments lost 10 cents and closed at $25.20 after trading 7,635 shares, Radio Jamaica fell 8 cents to close at $1.65 after 70,322 shares changed hands, Sagicor Group rose 5 cents with 79,743 shares changing hands at $21.50, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 500 shares but gained 22 cents to close at $10.22. Scotia Group traded 26,125 shares to end at $29 after rising by $1.90, Supreme Ventures loss 10 cents to $4.70 with 221,427 shares changing hands, Proven Investments ordinary share traded 210,900 units at 19.98 US cents.
