Juniors make big gain on Thursday
The volume of 1,700,082 units changed hands, valued at $8,831,236. At the close, 1 security ended with no bid to buy and 9 securities had no stocks being offered for sale but 6 stocks closed with bids that were higher than their last selling prices and one ended with a lower offer.
In trading, AMG Packaging gained $2.30 with a mere 100 units changing hands to end at a new 52 weeks high of $18.80, C2W traded 3,370 shares at 49 cents, Caribbean Cream ended with a gain of 45 cents to close at $4.75, Caribbean Producers traded 59,990 units but fell 40 cents to close at $5.10. Consolidated Bakeries traded 3,000 units and gained 15 cents to close at $1.55, Derrimon Trading closed at $4.50 with 22,390 units changing hands, General Accident traded 521,900 shares to close at $2.18, Honey Bun ended at a 52 weeks’ high of $9.31 with 50,000 units trading with a gain of 1 cent. The company reported first quarter earnings to December with sales increasing by 42 percent $293 million and profit after taxes rising 175 percent, to $47 million for 48 cents per share. Jamaican Teas gained 10 cents with 25,704 shares trading, to close at a $5.60, but traded earlier in the day at an intraday high of $5.61. Knutsford Express traded 1,550 shares at a 52 weeks’ high of $17.25, the stock closed with a gain of 75 cents, Lasco Distributors closed with 277,371 units trading and ended with a gain of 30 cents at $7.80, Lasco Distributors reported a 50 percent jump in profit after tax of $592 million, for the nine months to December last year, up from $197 million. Profit after tax for the quarter was $212.5 million over prior year. Revenues for the nine months amounted to $10.9 billion 36 percent higher than in 2014. Revenues for the quarter were S4.0 billion, with the increase being in line with the nine months growth and profit after taxation came in at $213 million from 193 million in 2014. Lasco Financial closed at $4.16 with 49,260 shares changing hands. Lasco Manufacturing ended trading with 250,166 shares to close at $5, the company reported profit generated before tax for the nine months ended December 2015 at $763.5 million compared to $426.3 million for the same period last year, an increase of $337 million or 79%. Lasco’s profit for the quarter came in at $267 million, 69 percent higher than the $158 million for the same period in 2014. Medical Disposables closed at $3.55 with 34,200 shares trading and tTech closed with a 5 cents loss at $4.65 with 12,000 shares trading.
Jamaica National lowers loan rate
With mortgage rates on the decline, the local mortgage industry has received a further boost, following Jamaica National Building Society’s (JNBS) recent announcement of a reduction in rates to 8.5 percent for new mortgage applicants residing in Jamaica and across the Diaspora.
“The 8.5% offer spans across five JNBS mortgage product lines with a maximum of $20 million. The rate applies to Home Purchases and Construction loans, both having a 40 year repayment term; as well as Equity loans, Refinance loans, and Home Improvement loans,” Tiffany Gordon, Mortgage Sales Executive of the building Society, announced.
Jamaica National was silent on rates for existing borrowers but a reduction may well occur later in the year with interest rates on treasury bills declining from as far back as 2014 and continuing into 2016 with the last Treasury bill auction in January.
No price changed on TTSE – Thursday
The Composite Index is unchanged at 1,161.97, the All T&T Index remained at 1,927.83 and the Cross Listed Index is stuck at 52.27 points.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator has turned negative with 7 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 7 stocks with offers that were lower. The market seems set to decline with Scotiabank having the offer at $60 compared with the last sale price of $61, Trinidad and Tobago NGL bid is at $18.25 to buy 10,200 units with an offer to sell 16,262 units at $18.89 the same as the last traded price. Trinidad Cement closed with the offer below the last traded price of $3.69 with only 700 units to sell at $3.65 and the bid at $3.50 to buy 1,414 units.
Firm Trades| Calypso Macro Index Fund traded 45 shares at $25, Clico Investment Fund traded 1,257 shares to close at $22.50, First Citizens Bank traded 200 units at $35, JMMB Group had 452,351units changing hands to close at 55 cents, Massy Holdings ended with 5,255 shares valued at $313,192 changing hands as the price ended at $59.60. Republic Financial Holdings contributed 1,000 shares closing at $112, Sagicor Financial added 6,076 shares at $6.51, Unilever Caribbean ended with 2,800 shares trading at $67.82 and West Indian Tobacco Company contributed 5,872 shares with a value of $741,633 at $126.30.
JSE post gains in early trading
Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange in Thursday’s morning session is off with a good with new 52 weeks’ highs being reached in Berger Paints at $4.25, Pulse Investments at $3.90 and Scotia Group at $35.95. Trading has mostly been focused on main market stocks, in the first 75 minutes of trading, with 31 securities traded amounting to 2,430,952 units.
11 stocks recorded gains and 11 declined as investors continue to buy up stocks even as some are taking profits from the run up in the market since 2015.
Volume leaders are General Accident Insurance with 500,000 shares at $2.10, Cable & with 368,638 withe price falling to $1.51, Jamaica Broilers with 113,936 units at $15.31, JMMB Group with 568074 shares at $11 and Scotia Group with 478,201 units at $35.95.
The all Jamaica Composite Index climbed 727.99 points to 183,162.41, the JSE Market Index rose 651.41 points to 164,829.36, the JSE combined index gained 824.84 points to 175,747.74 and the junior market index gained 23.32 points or 1.05 percent to 2,250.46 as this market continues to make recovery from recent declines.
More US$ selling than buying – Wednesday
Trading in the Jamaican foreign exchange market ended Wednesday with dealers buying the equivalent of US$30,741,701 and selling US$45,468,988, in contrast with US$39,102,745 purchased and US$45,483,303 sold on Tuesday.
In US dollars trading, dealers bought US$27,773,808 compared to US$36,005,606 on Tuesday with the buying rate for the US dollar slipping by 16 cents to $120.64. A total of US$43,559,983 was sold versus US$43,512,355 on Tuesday as the selling rate rose 1 cent to $121.38. The Canadian dollar buying rate rose 47 cents to end at $83.58 with dealers buying C$998,893 and selling C$580,645, at an average rate that slipped $1.58 to $85.69. The rate for buying the British Pound climbed $1.05 to $171.74 for the purchase of £1,374,735, while £741,813 was sold, with the rate rising 69 cents to $173.22. At the end of trading, the selling rate for Euro, ended with a rise of 13 cents to close at J$132.31, from Tuesday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$129.71 for a decline of 1 cent from Tuesday’s rate. The US dollar equivalent of other currencies traded, amounts to US$318,898 being bought, while US$440,417 was sold.
Highs & Lows| Notable changes to the highest and lowest rates the currencies traded at are, a fall of $18.34 in the lowest selling rate for the US dollar that ended at $99.16, the highest buying rate of the Canadian dollar rising $1.50 to $88, the lowest selling rate jumping $2.70 to $82.70 and the highest buying rate for the British Pound climbing $2.40 to $176.70.
Juniors eke small gain on Wednesday
The volume of 1,700,082 units changed hands, valued at $8,831,236. At the close, 1 security ended with no bid to buy and 8 securities had no stocks being offered for sale but 6 stocks closed with bids that were higher than their last selling prices and none ended with a lower offer.
In trading, AMG Packaging gained $1 with just 19,136 units changing hands at a new 52 weeks high of $16.50, Caribbean Cream ended with a loss of 35 cents as the stock remains under selling pressure, as 52,489 shares changed hands to close at $4.30. Caribbean Flavours traded 600 units to end at $8.50, Caribbean Producers traded 696,572 units but fell 39 cents to close at $5.50, Derrimon Trading closed at $4.50 with 2,000 units changing hands, Dolphin Cove closed with 9,847 units changing hands at $15.72. General Accident gained 8 cents while trading 110,204 shares to close at $2.18, Honey Bun ended at a 52 weeks’ high of $9.30 with 2,000 units trading with a gain of 5 cents, Jamaican Teas gained 40 cents with 95,000 shares trading, to close at a $5.50, KLE closed with 6,000 units changing hands at $2.75. Knutsford Express traded 1,900 shares at a 52 weeks’ high of $16.50, the stock price closed with a gain of $1.30, Lasco Distributors closed with 141,838 units trading and ended with a gain of 15 cents at $7.50, Lasco Financial rose 4 cents to close at $4.16 with 87,291 shares changing hands. Lasco Manufacturing ended trading with 434,275 shares to close at $5, Medical Disposables closed at $3.55 with 30,430 shares trading but lost 2 cents, Paramount Trading had just 1,000 units changing hands at $11.49 and tTech closed at $4.75 with 9,500 shares trading.
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Activity picks up on TTSE – Wednesday
The Trinidad & Tobago stock market closed with 11 securities being active on Wednesday, up from 7 on Tuesday with 4 stocks gaining, 3 declining with the prices of 4 remaining unchanged as the stock prices of 2 companies hit 52 weeks’ lows and 1 52 weeks’ high. A total of 346,177 shares changed hands valued at $895,825.
The Composite Index fell 0.16 points to 1,161.97, the All T&T Index lost 0.63 points to 1,927.83 and the Cross Listed Index advanced by 0.05 points to 52.27.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator has turned negative with only 5 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 5 stocks with offers that were lower.
Gains| Guardian Holdings gained 5 cents with 430 shares changing hands to close at $14.25, Sagicor Financial added 1,200 shares and closed at a 52 weeks’ high of $6.51, to gain 1 cent. Scotia Investments had 4.500 units changing hands at a $1.64, for a 4 cents gain and Unilever Caribbean ended with 2 cents rise with 8,217 shares trading at $67.82.
Losses| Massy Holdings ended with 80 shares changing hands as the price dropped 20 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ low of $59.60, National Flour contributed 25,000 shares but lost 8 cents in closing at $2.19 and Trinidad and Tobago NGL fell 11 cents, in trading 3,038 shares at a new 52 weeks’ low of $18.89.
Firm Trades| Clico Investment Fund traded 1,140 shares to close at $22.50, First Citizens Bank traded 8 units at $35, JMMB Group had 301,724 units changing hands to close at 55 cents and Prestige Holdings with 840 units and ended at $10.25.
JSE post gains in morning session
Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange in the morning session on Wednesday is off to a bright start with new 52 weeks’ highs being reached in Berger Paints and Pulse Investments. Trading volumes are up across the board after 75 minutes of trading, with 34 securities traded amounting to 2,039,201 units. 11 stocks recorded gains and 10 declined.
Scotia Bank traded 186,800 units at $34.99 but has an offer to sell at $32 as this stock seems set to continue its sharp up and down movements that it has been doing from 2015. Caribbean Producers had a good volume of 663,072 units but slipped back to $5.10 from the closing price of $5.50 on Tuesday.
The all Jamaica Composite Index climbed 561.17 points to 181,930.63, the JSE Market Index rose 502.14 points to 163,727.15, the JSE combined index gained 532.63 points to 174,471.12 and the junior market index gained 6.55 points to 2,224.19 as this market continues to make recovery from recent declines.