Honey Bun traded at a new high of $7 in the early Tuesday morning session on the Jamaica Stock Exchange with 234,037 units changing hands while 1834 Investments traded and Radio Jamaica traded over 6.4 million units and Lasco Manufacturing had 5 million units changing hands.
The other stocks trading over 100,000 units in the main market include Cable & Wireless with 100,000units at $1.45, Carreras 101,167 shares at $64.70, Consolidated Bakeries 526,000 at $2, Jamaica Broilers 260,811 at $14 and Lasco Financial Services 828,325 shares down to $3.20.
Trading resulted in activity in 29 securities, accounting for a volume of 20,716,456 units as 11 stocks gained and 13 declined. The average number of shares traded amounts to 714,361 units compared to an average of 34,611 units on Monday. After 2 hours of trading in the early morning session, on Tuesday, the all Jamaica Composite Index dropped 1,136.39 points to 177,864.96, the JSE Market Index lost 1,016.11 points to 160,084.71, the JSE combined index dipped 633.32 points, to 171,320.16 and the junior market index jumped 30.02 points to 2,224.91.
Majors drop juniors rise
JSE stocks ride on up
A total of 36 securities changed hands on Monday, accounting for 26,280,948 units valued at $158,936,391, in all market segments. The junior market accounted for 1,803,816 shares, valued at $8,745,258 of the overall trades.
The price of 14 stocks in the overall market rose, 12 declined, including 7 stocks rising and 2 declining, from the junior market as 4 stocks in all markets hit new highs, three of which ended at new 52 weeks’ high.
The JSE Market Index rose 438.15 points to end at 161,100.82. The all Jamaica Composite Index gained 490.02 points to close at 179,001.35 and the JSE combined index climbed 705.35 points, to close at 171,943.48.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 9 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 with lower offers.
At the end of market activities, Berger Paints traded 10,259 shares with the price rising 1 cent, to end at $4.50, Cable & Wireless lost 7 cents, in closing at $1.40 after trading 46,675 units, Caribbean Cement fell 25 cents, in trading 34,161 shares and closed at $24.25. Carreras had 1,206,443 units trading, to close with a loss of 98 cents, at $65.02. The price of 1834 Investments rose 6 cents, to $1.23 with 10,000,000 shares changing hands, Grace Kennedy dropped $5 in trading 1,443 units, to close at $110, Jamaica Broilers ended with 33,115 units changing hands at $13.75, after shedding 25 cents, Jamaica Producers traded 51,610 shares to end at $44. Jamaica Stock Exchange lost 80 cents trading 25,000 shares to close at $20, JMMB Group traded 2,027,654 units as the price lost 1 cent to end at $9.99, Kingston Wharves rose by 20 cents in trading 23,106 stock units at $12, National Commercial Bank traded 1,150 shares, to close with a gain of $1 at $43. Pan Jamaican Investment Trust traded 51,241 shares and ended at $26.50, Pulse Investments closed with 100,000 shares trading at $3, Radio Jamaica closed trading with 10,249,651 shares with the price rising 12 cents to a 52 weeks’ high of $2.22, Sagicor Group ended with 399,062 shares changing hands with a rise of 1 cent at $23. Scotia Group slipped 48 cents to close at $32.49 as 15,680 units changed hands, Seprod traded 62,258 units and declined 38 cents to end at $16.50, Supreme Ventures traded 101,443 units to close at $4.50 and Proven Investments closed at 19.5 US cents while trading 29,900 shares.
Juniors move higher on Monday
The market ended with bids for 7 stocks closing higher than their last selling prices and 3 ending with lower offers.
At the end of trading, Access Financial Services closed with a gain of 50 cents at $17 with 1,162 units changing hands, CAC 2000 close with 2,400 units trading at $6.50, Caribbean Cream gained 14 cents to end at $4.65, after trading 50,000 shares, Caribbean Producers traded 38,186 shares and gained 10 cents, to close at $4.60. Consolidated Bakeries traded 20,000 shares with a gain of 4 cents, to close at $2.04. Dolphin Cove traded 38,920 units and gained 20 cents to end at $11.20, General Accident Insurance fell by 18 cents in trading 6,650 units at $2.26. KLE Group traded 100 units and fell 24 cents to close at $1.36, Knutsford Express closed with 20,120 units changing hands at $17.50, Lasco Distributors fell 30 cents with 105,688 units trading at $7.60. Lasco Financial closed with a rise of 16 cents at $3.30 with 257,296 shares changing hands while Lasco Manufacturing traded 1,200,628 shares and gained 15 cents to close at $4.75 and tTech traded just 100 units at $4.30.
Honey Bun hits new high – Monday
Honey Bun traded at a new high of $6.15 in the early Monday morning session on the Jamaica Stock Exchange with 51,129 units changing hands and Radio Jamaica traded 241,870 units to hit a new high of $2.22 and traded after at $2.20. The overall market started off on a positive note in confirming that the market hit a bottom in May.
Stocks trading over 100,000 units in the main market include Lasco Manufacturing trading 172,769 shares at $4.70 and Pulse Investments that traded 100,000 shares at $3.
Trading resulted in activity in 25 securities, accounting for a volume of 796,058 units as 11 stocks gained and 3 declined. The average number of shares traded amounts to 34,611 units compared to an average of 54,276 units on Friday.
After 75 minutes of trading in the early morning session, on Monday, the all Jamaica Composite Index rose 285.63 points to 178,796.96, the JSE Market Index climbed 255.40 points to 160,918.07, the JSE combined index gained 441.84 points, to 171,689.97 and the junior market index jumped 19.93 points to 2,185.76.
Buy Rated stocks set for growth
In Trinidad, the market drifted from a peak in the all T&T index at 1,956.55 on December 8, 2015 to a 2016 low of 1,758.40 on May 19. The movements the Jamaica’s junior market saw the index peaking at 2,357.20 on 12th of January and bottomed out on the 7th of April at 1,762.87 points, for a decline of 24.5 percent but have since recovered most of the decline.
Much have happened with companies releasing results since with a number of the results in Trinidad being flat to declining, while most in Jamaica show good increased profit, while interest rates have declined in Jamaica and been static in Trinidad. Added to the profit out turn, a few companies in Jamaica announced stocks splits which have driven the respective prices of all the companies up strongly. Grace Kennedy, one of IC Insider Buy Rated stocks that has been lagging in performance, came to life as the company reported strong increase in the March quarter results, with the price jumping to $115 and seems to have more room to grow, based on the improved results. Pan Jamaican Investment gained 42.5 percent since it was last reported on at the end of April, helped by a 5 for 1 stock split and is up 82 percent since selected to the BUY RATED list. The company has good long term growth prospect but may have plateaued at the current price, around $26.50. The stock has been moved to a watch from BUY RATED.
Honey Bun added to the BUY RATED list in November 2015, gained 112 percent since April and 387 percent since being added to the list. Strong growth in profits and a 5 for 1 stock split helped in moving the value of the stock. ISP Finance added in April, is up 20 percent but there is little supply to be obtained, a recipe for a strong rally in the price ahead. Knutsford Express was put on hold when last reported on and has slipped 20.5 percent, is now restored to a buy below $20 while Lasco Distributors placed on a Watch list last time, is up 52.6 percent and is now placed on watch list at current price at $7.60, supply seems to be drying up for this stock, following release of full year’s results. While investors have priced in a potential big inflows from their law suit claim with Pfizer, at a PE ratio around 20 times fiscal 2017 operating profit, investing at the levels could result in an investment that may underperform the market in the medium term.
Cable & Wireless is up 22.5 percent since April and 332 percent since it debuted on the list in February 2014. The company reported a small profit from operation, for this year to March, and seems headed for earnings around 20 cents per share for 2017. The price should be heading higher before too long, but demand is not electric currently.
General Accident and Honey Bun are placed on the watch list with the former unable to get profit to rise outside the range of 30 cents per share and the latter now being priced at a PE of 18, well ahead of the average for the junior market. Honey Bun supply notwithstanding the 5 for 1 stock split, is scarce but profit growth could continue to be strong thus lending support to the stock going forward.
Companies in Trinidad are not doing well but their performance is not disastrous in the main with the price of a number of stocks have pulled back sharply and will offer good entry points when it is time to buy into that market. The time may not be right to enter that recession affected market just yet. Technical reading of this market shows it peaking at 2,032 points and have lost 13.5 percent since then and could fall another 9 percent from the May 2016 levels to reach 1,600 points before the decline is over. A look at the trading report shows that the prices of some major companies remain under pressure and is likely to fall as demand remains weak.
Technical and fundamental assessments suggest that Access Financial, Caribbean Cream, Medical Disposables and National Commercial Bank are due for a break out sooner than later, with Caribbean Cement to follow.
US$ sales exceed purchases – Friday
The buying and selling in the forex market on Friday resulted slightly more selling by dealers than the amounts bought in all currencies but sale of US dollars exceeded inflows by US$3 million, helping the selling rate of the US dollar, to continue to gain on the Jamaican currency.
The foreign exchange market closed on Friday, with dealers buying the equivalent of US$31,515,940 and selling US$33,499,897, in contrast to US$32,911,167 purchased and US$33,802,996 sold on Thursday
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$27,698,434 compared to US$28,031,398 on Thursday as the buying rate for the US dollar remained unchanged at $124.75. A total of US$30,645,567 was sold versus US$31,006,313 on Thursday with the selling rate rising 6 cents to $125.56. The Canadian dollar buying rate fell $1.17 to end at $92.28 with dealers buying C$691,476 and selling C$516,501, at an average rate that climbed by 88 cents to $96.11. The average rate for buying the British Pound climbed $1.04 to $179.34 for the purchase of £1,920,291, while £1,270,603 was sold, with the rate rising $1.11 to $181.05.
At the end of trading, the selling rate for Euro, fell by 12 cents to close at J$140.06 from Thursday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$137.13, for a fall of 2 cents on Thursday’s rate. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded amounts to US$545,285 being bought, while US$626,785 was sold.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest traded rates for the Jamaican dollar in the foreign exchange market on Friday, include, a rise of $18.88 in the lowest selling rate of the US Dollar to $121, a rise of $1.60 in the highest buying rate of the Canadian Dollar to $97.50 and the highest buying rate for the British Pound increasing by $2.51 to $183.81.
Juniors trade higher on Friday
A total of 13 securities traded with 6 advancing and 4 declining. The market ended with bids for 7 stocks closing higher than their last selling prices and 3 ending with lower offers.
At the end of trading, AMG Packaging traded 4,500 shares to close at $12.45, CAC 2000 close with 750 units trading at $6.50, Caribbean Cream closed with a loss of 15 cents at $4.51, after trading 36,570 shares, Carib Flavours did not trade but closed with the offer at $7.75 compared to the last traded price of $7.99. Caribbean Producers traded 14,050 shares and gained 55 cents, to close at $4.50, Consolidated Bakeries traded 294,747 units with a loss of 12 cents and ended at $2, after it traded at an intraday 52 weeks’ high of $2.15, C2W Music closed with 29,000 shares trading with a gain of 2 cents at 36 cents. Dolphin Cove traded 38,920 units and gained 20 cents to end at $11.20, Honey Bun ended at a closing 52 weeks’ high of $5.05 with a gain of 5 cents with 25,850 units changing hands. The price hit a high of $5.50 in the morning session. Jamaican Teas traded 108,490 units to close with a rise of 10 cents at $3.90, Lasco Distributors fell 30 cents with 514,000 units trading at $7.60. Lasco Financial closed with a fall of 20 cents at $3.14 with 167,400 shares changing hands while Lasco Manufacturing traded 1,280,146 shares and gained 10 cents to close at $4.60 and tTech traded 6,472 units at $4.30.
TTSE stocks closed week positively
The Composite Index advanced by 0.33 points to close at 1,110.12, the All T&T Index fell 0.01 points to close at 1,760.05 and the Cross Listed Index rose by 0.09 points to 61.20. The market ended with 1 stock closing at 52 weeks’ high.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator ended with 4 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 7 with offers that were lower.
Gains| Grace Kennedy rose 5 cents to a 52 weeks’ high of $5.25 with 1,700 units changing hands and West Indian Tobacco rose 1 cent in closing at $126.31 with 1,128 units trading.
Losses| Massy Holdings closed trading with 29,282 shares with a value of $1,419,675 at $48.15 after losing 1 cent.
Firm Trades| Ansa Merchant Bank traded 200 units at $38.95, Clico Investments Fund ended with 100 shares changing hands at $22.65, First Citizens had 200 shares changing hands to close at $30, Guardian Holdings traded 1,943 shares with the price remaining at $12.85, National Enterprises traded 1,505 shares and closed at $11.15. Praetorian Property Mutual Fund contributed 1,000 shares to end at $2.70, Prestige Holdings traded 300 shares at $11.30.
Market index chopped – Friday
Trading in the early morning session of the Jamaica Stock Exchange saw the main market indices being chopped sharply from Thursday close by nearly 1 percent but the junior market index climbed by almost 2.5 percent in contrast.
Honey Bun fresh from a 5 to 1 stock split, trading at a new high $5.01 and pulled back to $5, but the bid is now at $5.05. Radio Jamaica also traded at a new high of $2 and Consolidated Bakeries traded 46,296 units at a new one year high of $2.13
Stocks trading over 100,000 units in the main market include Cable & Wireless with 364,430 units at $1.48, Radio Jamaica 103,710 at a new high of $2, Supreme Ventures 348,904 shares at $4.50. In the junior market and Lasco Financial traded 164,400 shares at $3.30.
Trading resulted in activity in 25 securities, accounting for a volume of 1,356,891 units as 10 stocks gained and 4 declined. The average number of shares traded amounts to 54,276 units compared to an average of 135,568 units on Thursday.
After 75 minutes of trading in the early morning session, on Friday, the all Jamaica Composite Index was chopped by 1,080.88 points to 176,234.77, the JSE Market Index fell 966.48 points to 158,627.06, the JSE combined index fell 356.36 points, to 169,738.24 and the junior market index jumped 52.67 points to 2,202.72.