Trading is off to a fairly slow start on the Jamaica Stock Exchange in the early morning session but with a few reasonable sized trades. Leading off is Lasco Manufacturing with 1,079,447 units followed by Cable & Wireless with 355,488 shares and 
Caribbean Cream with 97,300 shares while Caribbean Cement chipped in with 63,122 units, Jamaican Teas 74,583 units and JMMB 7.25% traded 200,000 shares.
Trading saw all major indices rising moderately, with the main market indices gaining just under 200 points and the junior market index climbing over 10 points after 90 minutes of trading, on Tuesday. The average volume traded amounts to 107,260 units per active stock, compared to an average of 71,293 units traded in the mid-morning session on Monday.
A total of only 20 securities accounting for 2,145,196 shares changed hands as 5 stocks gained and 4 declined.
The market saw the all Jamaica Composite Index rising 195.09 points to 167,466.80, the JSE Market Index gained 174.44 points to 150,787.09, the JSE combined index ended with a rise of 279.60 points to 161,579.83 and the junior market index rose 11.48 points to 2,116.34.
JSE inches up in early trading – Tuesday
Sharp climb for JSE stocks- Monday
Palace Amusement jumped $9.99 to end at a 52 week’s high of $95.
Trading amounted to 10,108,943 units valued at $34,957,344 changing hands, in all markets, the junior market accounting for 3,718,416 units valued at $14,802,812.
The JSE Market Index jumped 2,191.62 points to end at 150,612.65, the all Jamaica Composite Index rose 2,451.03 points to 167,271.71 and the JSE combined index jumped 1,938.42 points, to close at 161,300.23 as junior market stocks contributed much to the rise.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 17 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 with lower offers.At the end of market activities, Cable & Wireless fell 2 cents to close at $1.33, in trading 3,360,096 units, Caribbean Cement traded 18,530 shares to gain $1.34 and close at $26 but closed with the stock being offered at $25.50, Carreras ended trading with a gain of 50 cents while trading 8,286 shares, to close at $65. Grace Kennedy traded 5,555 shares with a rise of 50 cents, to end at $81.50, Jamaica Broilers had 10,673 units changing hands, to close with a loss of 5 cents at $14.45. JMMB Group had 13,550 shares changing hands and gained $1 to end at $10,
Kingston Wharves traded 5,000 shares to close at $11.50 after rising 20 cents, National Commercial Bank traded 80,951 shares to close at $39, after slipping by $1, Palace amusement traded 402 units as the price jumped to a 52 weeks’ high of $95 by rising $9.99. Radio Jamaica traded 563,999 shares but fell 2 cents to close at $1.18, Sagicor Group rose 20 cents in ending with 3,635 shares changing hands at $22.50, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 46,437 shares to close at $10, Scotia Group closed with a gain of 50 cents at $30.50 with 6,019 units changing hands. Proven Investments ordinary share traded 316,675 units and fell 1 US cents to close at 18 US cents and JMMB Group 7.5% preference shares traded 1,943,418 units at $1.06, with a rise of 1 cent.
Jamaican$ holding firm – Monday
Trading in the foreign exchange market on Monday resulted in the Jamaican dollar declining slightly against the US dollar but holding firm versus Canadian dollar while slipping, compared to the closing rate on Friday, for the Pound. The market closed with dealers buying the equivalent of US$47,848,516 and selling US$41,089,504, in contrast to US$33,234,559 purchased and US$36,327,045 sold on Friday.
In US dollars trading, dealers bought US$42,244,916 compared to US$30,697,232 on Friday, as the buying rate for the US dollar fell 2 cents to close at $121.96. A total of US$34,358,438 was sold versus US$33,977,802 on Friday, the selling rate rose 1 cent to $122.68.
The Canadian dollar buying rate jumped $3.04 to end at $95.97 with dealers buying C$2,945,603 and selling C$5,217,053, at an average rate that rose $1 to $98.65. The rate for buying the British Pound climbed $1.78 to $174.03 for the purchase of £2,205,859, while £1,504,411 was sold, as the rate rose $1.76 to $176.79.
At the end of trading, the selling rate for Euro, fell 56 cents to close at J$137.89, from Friday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$135.05 for a fall of 60 cents from Friday’s rate. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded, amounts to US$137,980 being bought, while US$368,121 was sold.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest traded rates for the currencies on Monday are, a jump of $1.97 in the lowest selling rate of the US dollar to end at $101.84, a rise of $2 in the lowest selling rate of the Canadian dollar to $90, a rise of $1.10 in the highest buying rate for the British Pound to $178.30 and a fall of $2.50, in the lowest selling rate to $166.
Juniors pulled back – Monday
Honey Bun jumped sharply on Monday.
The market closed with 15 active securities, 2 of which advanced and 5 declined while 4 stocks closed with bids higher than the last selling prices and 4 ended with lower offers.
At the end of trading in a market, Access Financial Services closed at $16.50 with 150 units changing hands, AMG Packaging gained $1 to close at $13 with 12,460 units changing hands, Caribbean Cream traded 62,882 units at $4, Caribbean Producers traded 4,150 units to end at $4. Consolidated Bakeries fell 1 cent in trading just 500 shares to close at $1.20, C2W Music had 1,000 units changing hands at 32 cents after losing just 1 cent,
Dolphin Cove traded 20,000 shares at $13, General Accident closed at $2.65 with 1,447,523 shares changing hands, Honey Bun rose $2.50 to end at $15.50 with 3,000 shares trading. Key Insurance fell by 5 cents to close at $2.50 after 7,913 shares changed hands, Lasco Distributors ended at $7.50 with 344,182 units trading, Lasco Financial closed at $3.03, with 347,500 shares changing hands. Lasco Manufacturing fell 15 cents with 1,436,456 shares changing hands to close at $4.55 and tTech ended with 29,200 shares changing hands at $4.18.
Just 5 TTSE stocks trade – Monday
Angostura was the only stock to gain at the close of trading on Monday
The Composite Index declined by 0.01 points to close at 1,130.06, the All T&T Index eased by 0.02 points to close at 1,805.41 and the Cross Listed Index remained unchanged at 60.40.
Quotes for Massy Holdings and Scotiabank remain well below their last selling price and are likely to take a bite out of the indices when next they trade while Republic Financial holdings offer is under pressure with no buyers for the stocks at the close.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator ended with 6 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 9 with offers that were lower.
Gains| Angostura Holdings rose 10 cents in trading 75 units $13.Losses| First Citizens Bank fell 1 cents to $33.23 with 2,572 shares traded, at a new 52 weeks’ low and trading in Trinidad Cement stock ended with 399,055 units changing hands, for a value of $1,336,894, as the price slipped 5 cents close at $3.35.
Firm Trades| Clico Investment Fund closed at $22.60 with 9,520 shares changing hands and Trinidad and Tobago NGL traded 8,040 shares at $19.52.
JSE indices jump in early trading – Monday
Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange in the early morning session, saw stocks rising and just inching out declining ones but with moderate trading taking place.
Trading had all major indices rising, with the main market indices gaining over 1,000 points each and the junior market index climbing 2.24 percent after 75 minutes of trading, on Monday. The average volume traded amounts to 71,293 units per active stock, compared to an average of 59,318 units traded in the mid-morning session on Friday.
A total of 26 securities accounting for 1,853,606 shares changed hands at 10.45 am. A total of 9 stocks gained and 7 declined with Palace Amusement climbing to a $95, with a gain of $9.99 as 402 shares changed hands.
402The market saw the all Jamaica Composite Index climbed 1,293.41 points to 166,114.09, the JSE Market Index gained 1,156.52 points to 149,577.55, the JSE combined index ended with a rise of 1,557.65 points to 160,919.46 and the junior market index rose 47.28 points to 2,161.36.
Jamaica’s business optimism surges
New units built at Montego Freeport in 2015.
Present business conditions reached its second highest level in February when measured by the index of present business conditions, since the record high of 240.2 in the September 2007 survey, Bank of Jamaica reported.
The index of present business conditions increased to 224.9 from 190.4 in the December 2015 survey. The out turn compares with a low of 47.50 reached in April 2013 and in March 2010 the lowest level of 40. The index has a base of 100 in December 2005.
The executives have a heightened picture of the future as the index of future business conditions also climbed reaching 172.1 from 158.2 in the previous survey.
The improvement in both indices reflected increases in the number of respondents of the view that conditions were or will be “better” while there were declines in the number of respondents indicating that conditions were “worse” the BOJ report stated. The recent improvement is reflective of a gradual improvement since the latter half of 2013 and it been on the increase since with the occasional slip as occurred in July 2015.The chart shows that the perception of future business conditions is more stable than short term current conditions view. The data shows in the latter part of 2015, for the first second time since the commencement of the survey, the present business conditions have moved well ahead of future conditions.
Jamaican$ ended mixed – Friday
Trading in the foreign exchange market on Friday resulted in the Jamaican dollar declining slightly against the US dollar holding firm versus Canadian and slipping compared to the closing rate on Thursday for the pound. The market closed with dealers buying the equivalent of US$33,234,559 and selling US$36,327,045, in contrast to US$32,674,699 purchased and US$31,565,070 sold on Thursday.
In US dollars trading, dealers bought US$30,697,232 compared to US$29,806,276 on Thursday, as the buying rate for the US dollar remained unchanged at $121.98.
A total of US$33,977,802 was sold versus US$26,974,270 on Thursday, the selling rate rose 3 cents to $122.67. The Canadian dollar buying rate dropped $2 to end at $92.93 with dealers buying C$816,887 and selling C$1,804,263, at an average rate that remained at $97.65. The rate for buying the British Pound fell 2 cents to $172.25 for the purchase of £1,153,927, while only £484,850 was sold, as the rate rose $2 to $175.03.
At the end of trading, the selling rate for Euro, fell 43 cents to close at J$138.45, from Thursday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$135.65 for a fall of 40 cents from Thursday’s rate.
The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded, amounts to US$285,474 being bought, while US$221,219 was sold.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest traded rates for the currencies on Friday are, a jump of $15.73 in the lowest buying rate of the US dollar to end at $99.99 and a fall of $18.13 in the lowest selling rate to $99.87, a rise of $1 in the highest buying rate for the British Pound to $177.20 and an increase of $2.50 in the lowest selling rate to $168.50.
JSE ends week with gains – Friday
Carib Cement jumped $4.66 to close at $24.66 on Friday after posting strong profit.
A total of 40 securities changed hands, in all market segments, with 19 stocks rising while 8 declined. Trading amounted to 16,161,211 units valued at $141,833,561, in all markets, with the junior market accounting for 2,723,962 units valued at $12,229,768.
The JSE Market Index gained 282.48 points to end at 148,421.03, the all Jamaica Composite Index rose 315.92 points to 164,820.68 and the JSE combined index jumped 1,900.09 points, to close at 159,361.81 as junior market stocks contributed much to the rise.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 17 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 with lower offers.At the end of market activities, Cable & Wireless rose 5 cents to close at $1.35, in trading 5,142,218 units, Carreras ended trading with a loss of 49 cents while trading 2,030 shares, to close at $64.50, 1,834 Investments traded 246,750 shares at $1.13, Jamaica Broilers had 8,350 units changing hands, to close with a gain of 45 cents at $14.50. Jamaica Producers jumped $2.93 to end at $34.93 but only 1,000 shares traded. JMMB Group had 30,236 shares changing hands with a loss of 52 cents to end at $9, Kingston Wharves traded 5,000 shares to close at $11.50 after rising 20 cents,
National Commercial Bank traded 24,476 shares to close at $40, Pulse Investments traded 12,996 units as the price slipped by 50 cents to $2.50. Radio Jamaica traded 1,895,681 shares to gain 7 cents to close at $1.20, Sagicor Group fell 15 cents in ending with 76,203 shares changing hands to close at $22.30 Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 23,300 shares to close at $10 after losing 20 cents, Scotia Group closed unchanged at $30 with 125,253 units changing hands. Scotia Investments ended at $27.50 with 49,431 shares trading, Supreme Ventures gained 50 cents with 1,007,250 shares trading to end at $5.50. Proven Investments ordinary share traded 43,000 units to gain 2 US cents to close at 19 us cents and JMMB Group 7.5% preference shares traded 91,582 units at $1.05.
Juniors jump 8% on – Friday
Cargo Handlers traded at a new high of $45.
The junior market index jumped sharply by 159.72 points or 8 percent on top of the 72.93 points it gained on Thursday to end at 2,114.08 on Friday. As was the case on Thursday Lasco Distributors and Manufacturing made big impression on the market index. The volume traded ended with 2,723,962 units valued at $12,229,768, changing hands. The market closed with 16 active securities, 9 of which advanced and 3 declined while one stock closed at a 52 weeks’ high.
At the close of trading 4 stocks closed with bids higher than the last selling prices and just 4 ended with lower offers.
At the end of trading in a market with price gains dominated by the Lasco companies, AMG Packaging closed with a loss of 2 cents in trading 5,540 units to end at $12, CAC 2000 traded 1,400 shares 40 cents higher to close at $6.90. Cargo Handlers ended with 100 shares changing hands for a gain of $1.49 and closed at a 52 weeks’ high of $45, Caribbean Cream traded 233,322 units at $4, Caribbean Producers traded 100,000 units to end at $4, Consolidated Bakeries gained 11 cents in trading 7,870 shares to close at $1.21, Dolphin Cove traded 714 shares to close at $13. Iron Rock Insurance 28,000 units on the bid at $3.50, 
ISP Finance had 20,719 units changing hands but lost 5 cents to close at $2.45, Jetcon Corporation had 575,835 shares trading with a gain of 3 cents at $2.50, Key Insurance rose by 5 cents to close at $2.55 after 30,114 shares changed hands, Lasco Distributors jumped $1.29 to end at $7.50 with 528,460 units trading, Lasco Financial gained 4 cents to close at $3.03, with 117,447 shares changing hands. Lasco Manufacturing gained 56 cents with 977,026 shares changing hands to close at $4.70, Medical Disposables closed at $3.10 with 50,000 shares trading with a loss of 5 cents, tTech ended with 47,415 shares changing hands with a gain of 1 cent at $4.18.
