The Jamaica Stock Exchange on Friday closed with main market indices gaining modestly, with declining stocks equalling advancing ones. The market endured a very slow day, with the market closing with only 16 securities changing hands, resulting in 1,868,635 units trading, valued at $28,326,579 with 6 stocks rising, 6 declining, in all market segments. There were only 9 securities trading in the main and US dollar markets.
At the close, the JSE Market Index rose 221.30 points to 97,617.77. The JSE All Jamaican Composite index gained 247.34 points to 108,049.44 at support level on the downside and the JSE combined index added 316.62 points to end at 100,645.46.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had a reading that is confirming that the decline in the market is ending, with a reading of 10 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with offers that were lower.
In trading, Cable and Wireless rose just 1 cent with 20,000 units and closed at 45 cents, at the close, bids have built up with 120,000 units at 44 cents, at 43 cents, two bids form 779,586 units, and at 42 cents 710,000 units and 458,000 units at 40 cents. On offer 
between 45 and 50 cents, are 11 visible offers to sell 1,867,550 shares. Carreras had 191,096 units changing hands at $49, with a loss of 50 cents. Desnoes and Geddes traded 654,909 shares to close 10 cents lower at $6.80, Jamaica Broilers traded at $5.60 with just 9,318 shares changing hands, JMMB Group traded just 580 shares at $7.70, but gained 18 cents, Sagicor Group with 169,500 shares changing hands, closed 20 cents higher at $13. Scotia Group traded 31,550 units to close with a loss of 5 cents at $23.76 and Proven Investments ordinary share traded 427,400 units at 22 US cents for a gain of 1.9 US cents
Trading drops sharply on JSE
Trading volume picks up for juniors
Caribbean Flavours fell 20 cents on Friday although profit to June 2015 climbed 21.7%
At the close, 4 securities ended with no bids to buy, while 2 had no stocks being offered for sale and 4 stocks closed with bids higher than the last traded prices and 1 with the offer being lower.
Stocks trading are, AMG Packaging finished with 28,175 shares to close at $3.65, with a loss of 9 cents, Caribbean Cream ended with 222,048 shares changing hands at $1.70, Caribbean Flavours traded 10,000 units at $2.55, for a decline of 20 cents. The company
released audited financial statements showing profit of $58 million or 64 cents per share, versus $47 million or 56 cents in 2014, from sales revenue that were up to $307 million from $255 million in 2014. Caribbean Producers traded 49,061 units at $2.55, Honey Bun with 1,100 shares changing hands, closed with a gain of 30 cents at $4, Lasco Financial closed with 50,633 units trading, to end at $1.64, after shedding 16 cents and Lasco Manufacturing gained 10 cents in closing at $1.90 but with only 3,300 units changing hands.
4 TTSE stocks up 1 down on Friday
First Citizens closed at a 52 weeks’ low of $34.50 on Friday
The market closed on Friday with 12 securities changing hands, three more than on Thursday. At the close the prices of 4 stocks rose, while the price of 1 declined and 7 traded with prices unchanged. A total of 337,732 shares traded, valued at $7,805,755.
At the close, the Composite Index declined by 0.04 points to 1,141.54, the All T&T Index lost 1.66 points to 1,945.30 and the Cross Listed Index gained 0.21 points to 44.30.
Gains| Clico Investment Fund traded 243,571 shares, valued at $5,484,092 and closed with a gain of a cent at $22.51, Point Lisas traded 9,230 shares and gained 1 cent to end at $4.07. Sagicor Financial Corporation closed with 30,421 shares changing hands, 25 cents higher at $6 and Unilever Caribbean ended with 4,580 shares trading 6 cents up, for a new 52 weeks’ high of $67.11.
Losses| First Citizens Bank had 11,455 shares valued at $396,987 changing hands to end with a 51 cents down at a new 52 weeks’ low of $34.50.Firm Trades| Ansa Merchant Bank traded 3,112 units to end at $38.94, Grace Kennedy closed with 21,665 shares changing hands at $3.50, Massy Holdings had 1,958 shares trading at $62.50. National Flour Mills with 5,000 shares changing hands, ended at $2.09, One Caribbean Media traded 3,367 shares with the price remaining at $22, Republic Bank closed at $113, with 9,515 shares changing hands valued at $1,075,195 and Trinidad Cement ended at $2.75 with 13,879 shares changing hands.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with the bid higher than their last selling prices and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.
JSE up Friday morning
There were only 8 securities trading after 90 minutes of the market’s opening, on Friday. 
Trading volume is a mere 279,185 units, with 2 stocks declining versus 5 rising as trading levels remain depressed with just about all results now in for the companies.
Trading activity resulted in the JSE Market Index rose 301.54 points to 98,698.01. The JSE All Jamaican Composite index gained 337.03 points to close at 108,139.13 and the JSE combined index put on 384.32 points to end at 100,713.16. The junior market gained just 11.04 point to close at 949.11.
The notable trades are Carreras with 191,096 shares with the price slipping 50 cents $49 and Desnoes & Geddes with 54,909 units at $6.90.
Big drop in Business Confidence
The perception of present and future business conditions fell sharply in the latest survey conduction on behalf of Bank of Jamaica in July. Deterioration was registered in both surveys among respondents relative to the previous survey.
Notably, the index of present business conditions fell sharply to 130.3 from 166.9 in the previous survey. The index of future business conditions declined to 135.2 from 148.3 in the previous survey.
The result for July is the worse since September 2014 at 123.6 for current conditions and August 2014 for future business conditions at 119.4. Both confidence levels have broken the upward movement by breaking the trend line going back to October 2013, a negative sign, suggesting the likelihood of further declines ahead. The negative development seems to be showing up in the performance of the local stock market which has stagnated over the 108,000 points on the all Jamaica Index, in spite of a fall in interest rates initiated by the country’s central bank.
Notwithstanding, the declines in the recent indices of perceptions of present and future business conditions, they have displayed a general upward trend since the April 2013 survey, bank of Jamaica stated in the report. Of course that upward trend is now broken as indicated above.
The drop in the confidence levels is probably tied in with the depreciation of the Jamaican dollar in during June and July. At the start of June the exchange between the Jamaican dollar and the US was $116.13 reaching $116.98 at the end of the month and closed out July at $117.42.
J$ eases vs US on Thursday
Purchases by dealers of foreign currencies on Thursday, resulted in the Jamaican currency selling rate slipping against the US dollar and rising against the Pound sterling the Canadian. The market closed with dealers buying the equivalent of US$26,734,325 in contrast to US$28,433,391 on Wednesday, while they sold the equivalent of US$31,646,639, previously US$32,813,136.
In US dollar trading , dealers bought US$23,291,048 compared to US$26,458,016 on Wednesday. The buying rate for the US dollar lost 2 cents to $117.03 and US$30,577,320 was sold versus US$31,311,436 on Wednesday, the selling rate rose 9 cents to $117.78. The Canadian dollar buying rate jumped 75 cents to $87.25 with dealers buying C$1,545,237 and selling C$720,492, at an average rate that declined 51 cents to $88.57. The rate for buying the British Pound 
dropped 72 cents to $180.20 for the purchase of £1,435,261, while £303,145 was sold, at an average rate that fell $1.91 to $181.75. At the end of trading, it took J$134.22 to purchase the Euro, with a rise of 3 cents from Wednesday’s rate, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$131.48, a decline of 3 cents on Wednesday’s rate. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$81,119, while the equivalent of US$59,733 was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, rose 13 cents to $118.13, the lowest buying rate gained 4 cents to $96.19, the highest 
selling rate rose 5 cents to $123.26 and the lowest selling rate rose 29 cents to $96.44. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar climbed $1.20 to $90, the lowest buying rate lost 16 cents to $70.72 and highest selling rate eased 11 cents to $91.16. The lowest selling rate rose 20 cents to end at $85.20. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, eased $1.50 to $183, the lowest buying rate declined by $1.71 to $147.86, the highest selling rate jumped $2.32 to $192.60 and the lowest selling rate fell 50 cents to $177.
Declining stocks down sharply on JSE
The Jamaica Stock Exchange on Thursday closed with main market indices dropping once more, with declining stocks equalling advancing ones. The market endured a very slow day, after an hours trading, only 2 stocks traded amounting to just 2,677 units. The market closed with only 25 securities changing hands, resulting in 914,433 units trading, valued at $16,133,495 with 9 stocks rising, 9 declining, in all market segments.
At the close, the JSE Market Index fell 690.11 points to 97,396.47. The JSE All Jamaican Composite index lost 771.34 points to close at 107,802.10 around support on the downside and the JSE combined index dropped 448.93 points to end at 100,328.84.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had a reading that reflects a possibility that the decline is at or near the end a reading of 7 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with offers that were lower.
In trading, Cable and Wireless rose 2 cents with 211,066 units and closed at 44 cents, Caribbean Cement had 10,000 units changing hands at $8, Desnoes and Geddes traded 137,166 shares to close 7 cents higher at $6.90, Grace Kennedy closed with 130,192 shares trading at $64. Jamaica Broilers traded at $5.60 with just 10,000 shares changing hands, with a loss of $1.40, Kingston Wharves traded 20,000 shares at $6.45, but lost 80 cents in the 
process, Mayberry Investments had 13,640 shares trading for a fall of 45 cents to end at $2.90. Pan Jamaican ended at $61 with just 2,340 units changing hands, Sagicor Group with 17,385 shares changing hands, closed 20 cents lower at $12.80. Scotia Group traded 40,100 units to close with a gain of 5 cents at $23.81, Supreme Ventures ended at $3.40 with 15,500 units changing hands, Proven Investments ordinary share traded 200,000 units at 20.10 US cents for a loss of 0.45 cents and Proven Investments 8% preference share traded at a 52 weeks’ low of $4.90 with 4,300 shares.
Limited trading on junior market
Trading finished with limited activity with just 7 securities changing hands. At the close 2 stocks declined and 3 gained, resulting in only 49,128 units, valued at $108,535 changing hands. The market gained 22.29 points to close at 938.07.
At the close, 4 securities ended with no bids to buy, while 2 had no stocks being offered for sale and 3 stocks closed with bids higher than the last traded prices and 1 with the offer being lower.
Stocks trading are, Access Financial Services finished with 1,000 shares to close at $13, with a gain of $2, Caribbean Cream ended with 2,600 shares changing hands at $1.70 for an increase of 10 cents, General Accident Insurance traded 10,000 units with the price closing unchanged at $1.42, after shedding 8 cents. Jamaican Teas had 10,000 shares trading to close at $3.10 after losing 2 cents, Lasco Distributors closed with 12,390 units trading, to end at $1.62, the stock closed with the bid at $1.65 to buy 500,000 shares. Lasco Manufacturing gained 8 cents in closing at $1.80 with 12,613 units changing hands and Paramount Trading ended with 565 units changing hands unchanged at $6.
TTSE slide continues on Thursday
The downward movements of the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange continued on Thursday with 9 securities changing hands of which 2 gained a cent each, while the price of 1 declined and 6 traded with prices unchanged. A total of 118,185 shares traded, valued at $1,448,008.
At the close, the Composite Index declined by 0.60 points to 1,141.58, the All T&T Index lost 1.18 points to 1,946.96 and the Cross Listed Index remained at 44.09.
Gains| Clico Investment Fund traded 45,244 shares valued at $1,018,442 and closed with a gain of a cent at $22.51 and First Citizens Bank had 1,898 shares changing hands to end with a 1 cent gain at $35.01.
Losses| National Flour Mills with just 10 shares changing hands lost 1 cent to end at $2.09.
Firm Trades|, Angostura Holdings with 40 shares changing hands closed at $14, Firstcaribbean International Bank traded 36,159 shares and closed at $5, Guardian Holdings added 9,554 shares to close at $12.90, Massy Holdings had 233 shares trading at $62.50, National Commercial Bank traded 24,587 shares at $1.52 and National Enterprises with 40 shares changing hands ended at $16.99.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 6 stocks with the bid higher than their last selling prices and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.
Only 7 stocks trade Thursday morning
There were only 7 securities trading after 75 minutes of the market’s opening, on Thursday. 
Trading volume is a mere 166,718 units, with 2 stocks declining versus 3 rising.
Trading activity resulted in the JSE Market Index rose 167.49 points to 98,254.07. The JSE All Jamaican Composite index gained 187.21 points to close at 108,760.65 and the JSE combined index put on 158.02 points to end at 100,935.79. The junior market gained just 0.01 point to close at 915.79.
