At mid-day Scotia Group fell back to $23.21 from $34.50 at the close on Thursday, to be the main contributor to the morning fall in the market on Friday. Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange continued with 19 securities traded, 6 stocks rose and 8 declined. A 
total volume of just over 2,166,651 shares have changed hands at mid-day.
The all Jamaican Composite index dropped 1,254.12 points to 108,369.89 points, JSE Combined Index declined 1,099.60 points to 100,340.99, JSE Index trades at 97,904.53 points after shedding 1,122.01 points and Junior Market Index fell to 886.69, down by 4.61 points.
The most noticeable trades so far are, Cable & Wireless trading 412,500 units at 46 cents, Gleaner traded at a new 52 weeks’ high of $1.53 after trading 10,000 shares, with the stock rising 53 percent since June 16. Pulse at a new 52 weeks’ high of 75 cents with 55,000 shares trading, Sagicor Group with 507,673 shares at $13, Scotia Group that traded at $23.21, a fall $1.44 with 812,616 shares, and Supreme Ventures at $4 a new 52 weeks’ high, with 96,275 shares trading.
Scotia Group pushes Indices down
JSE continues up
Scotia Climb keeps indices rising
The market closed with a large number of stocks showing softness suggesting that there could be large number of declines evens as advances may pick up from today’s levels.
Trading ended with 9 stocks rising, 5 declining as 23 securities changed hands and ending in 1,876,486 units trading, valued at $10,673,692 and 1 stock closed at 52 weeks’ high in all market segments.
The JSE Market Index declined 284.62 points to 99,026.54 the JSE All Jamaican Composite index gained 318.14 points to close at 109,624.01 but the JSE combined index rose 223.92 points to end at 101,440.59 thanks to gains in the junior market offsetting declines in the main market.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator was showing a poor reading of only 13 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 13 with offers that were lower, in contrast 6 to 7 at the close on Wednesday.In trading, Cable & Wireless had 539,627 units changing hands to close at 46 cents. Caribbean Cement had 117,440 units trading at $5.50 after shedding another 20 cents on top of 30 cents on Wednesday. Desnoes and Geddes traded 7,086 shares at $7.39 to end down 15 cents, Gleaner ended with 30452 shares changing hands, to gain 2 cents, for a 52 weeks’ high of $1.50. Jamaica Broilers gained 30 cents to reach $5.75 while only 2,000 shares changed hands, the stock closed with an off at $5.65,
Jamaica Stock Exchange traded just 2,000 shares and shed 35 cents in closing at $5.75, at the close the bid was at $6.15. National Commercial Bank in trading 26,067 shares, to close higher by 86 cents at $29.90, Pan Jamaican rose 50 cents to $62 with 22,779 shares trading, the stock was mostly down on the day at $61.10. Sagicor Group with 20,883 units trading, ended unchanged at $13.01, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 80,000 units with a decline of 38 cents to $7.62 and Scotia Group that traded 106,740 shares to close at $24.94 to gain 43 cents but closed with the offer at $24.50. Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 649,316 to gain 2 cents at $3.
4 stocks rose on TTSE
Trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange picked up a bit on Thursday with 15 securities changing hands of which 4 advanced, 3 declined, 8 traded firm, with a total of 378,246 units valued at $3,700,929 changing hands, more than twice Wednesday’s volume of 150,955 shares.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index declined by 2.31 points to close at 1,159.67, the All T&T Index lost 0.68 points to 1,969.93 and the Cross Listed Index fell 0.53 point at 45.84.
Gains| In trading, ANSA Merchant Bank ended with 1,000 shares changing hands at $38.95, to gain 4 cents, CLICO Investment Fund ended with 28,320 units changing hands, valued at $640,315 and closed 1 cent higher at $22.61. Grace Kennedy added 21,385 shares, 10 cents higher at $3.60 and Massy Holdings trading 88 shares to close at $64.30 and gained 1 cent.
Declines| Guardian Holdings had 7,475 units changing hands with a loss of 7 cents to end at $13.93, National Commercial Bank traded 12,862 shares and fell 9 cents to close at $1.70 and One Caribbean Media ended trading with 2,124 shares at $22 after shedding 40 cents, to close at a 52 weeks’ low.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Angostura Holdings trading 6,749 units at $13.90, Firstcaribbean International Bank with 54,375 shares trading, valued at $271,875 and closed at $5. 
First Citizens Bank ended trading with 51,376 shares carrying a value of $1,836,692, to close at $35.75, National Flour Mills with 8,890 shares changing hands and ending at $2.05, Point Lisas Industrial Port traded at $3.95, with 4,500 units changing hands. Republic Bank closed with only 25 shares being purchased at $115, Sagicor Financial closing with 1,700 shares to end at $6.27 and Trinidad Cement traded 177,377 shares valued at $514,393 and closed at $2.90.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with the bid higher than their last selling prices and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.
J$ stays above 117 to US$1 on Thursday
Michael Manley the man who started the Jamaican dollar slide in the 1970s.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$30,637,319 compared to US$36,094,493 on Wednesday. The buying rate for the US dollar rose 8 cents to $116.49 and US$32,858,411 was sold versus US$36,465,228 on Wednesday, the selling rate rose 2 cents to $117.03.
The Canadian dollar buying rate declined $1.09 to $90.40 with dealers buying C$684,621 and selling C$654,945, at an average rate that fell $1.17 to $92.87. The rate for buying the British Pound fell 73 cents to $179.58 for the purchase of £882,554, while £398,803 was sold, at an average rate that declined 15 cents to $183.64. At the end of trading, it took J$129.90 to purchase the Euro, 44 cents less than on Wednesday, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$127.30 for 39 cents less than Wednesday’s rate. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$106,727, while the equivalent of US$832,251 was sold.Highs & Lows| The majority of price changes for the highs and lows that the Jamaican dollar traded at, were mostly down on Thursday, with only two cases of increases with the highest buying rate for the US dollar rising 10 cents to $117.35.
The lowest buying and the highest selling rates were unchanged at $95.82 and $122.78 respectively, while the lowest selling rate fell 25 cents to $114.70. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar dropped $1 to $93, the lowest buying rate lost 71 cents at $73.99. The highest selling rate inched down 60 cents to $96.40 and the lowest selling rate lost 35 cents to $89.15. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, rose 10 cents to $184 and the lowest buying rate declined 70 cents to $147.12, with the highest selling rate falling $3.61 to $187.38 and the lowest selling rate falling 75 cents to $177.25.
Another bank for JMMB stable
JMMB Group has acquired ninety percent (90%) of the shares of Banco Ahorro y Credito Rio (Banco Rio) through the group’s Dominican Republic subsidiary, JMMB Holding Company Limited after obtaining regulatory approval for the acquisition, the group informed the Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchanges today.
Banco Rio is a savings and loans bank, in accordance with the Financial and Monetary Law of the Dominican Republic they are licenced to provide consumer loans; loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs); commercial loans; credit lines; credit cards, cambio services; savings accounts and certificates of deposit.
“This acquisition serves as another key step in JMMB’s strategy of building out an integrated financial services business model in the Dominican Republic (DR) market. In particular, for all current and prospective JMMB and Banco Rio clients in the DR, this acquisition will pave the way for them to access an even more diversified bundle of financial solutions (through banking and investments), that will serve to achieve their financial goals and objectives at every stage of their life,” states JMMB in its report.
JMMB is a diversified financial group with operations in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic.
JMMB made revenues of $4.5 billion in the March 2015 quarter 13 percent ahead of the $3.96 billion generated in the 2014v period but was only able to report a disappointing $119 million in the quarter compared to $488 million in 2014. For the 2015 fiscal year revenues amounted to $18.46 billion or 17 percent ahead of that of 2014 of $15.75 billion. Increased cost which climbed much faster than revenues held profits down for the year but more so in the final quarter. JMMB shares trade on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, and was last quoted at $7.50, or just 6.4 times 2015 earnings.
Low-keyed activity for juniors
Activity on the junior market closed with only 6 securities trading and ended with just 44,694 units changing hands, valued at a mere $104,551. The JSE Junior Market Index declined 4.89 points to close at 891.30. The market ended with the prices of 2 stocks advancing and none declining and with several prices appearing soft going into Friday’s trading.
At the close of the junior market was flashing weak signals on Thursday with 6 stocks having bids higher than their last selling prices, 7 with lower offers that were lower and 4 securities closing with no bids to buy while only 5 had no stocks being offered for sale.
Stocks trading in the junior market are, Cargo Handlers ending with 590 units changing hands to close unchanged at $30, Caribbean Cream traded 2,950 units at $1.60 but the offer at the close is at $1.55 for 75,800 units. Caribbean Flavours traded 10,000 shares to close 7 cents higher at $2.60. Knutsford Express traded 1,094 shares at $6.10, Lasco Financial Services traded 18,700 shares and put on 4 cents to end at $1.84 and Lasco Manufacturing had 11360 shares changing hands, unchanged at $1.36.
Scotia Group pushes Indices
After 90 minutes of trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, 15 securities traded 
with 3 stocks rising and 4 declining. A total volume of just over 442,125 shares have changed hands.
The all Jamaican Composite index inched up 401.21 to 109,707.08 points, JSE Combined Index put on 335.46 to reach 101,269.39 points, JSE Index is now at 99,100.86 points after adding 358.94 points and Junior Market Index fell to 895.87, down by 0.32 points.
The most noticeable trades so far are, Scotia Group that traded at $24.95 to gain 44 cents with 106,700 shares, Cable & Wireless traded 243,298 units at 46 cents, Pan Jamaican shed 40 cents to $61.10 with 22,520 shares trading and Gleaner traded at a new 52 weeks’ high of $1.50.
JSE off to big July start
Scotia rose to $24.50 during trading to help push market on Wednesday
Trading ended with 12 stocks rising, 7 declining as 29 securities changed hands and ending in 12,250,815 units trading, valued at $88,380,669 and 3 stocks closed at 52 weeks’ high in all market segments. The main market closed with 6 stocks advancing to 3 falling.
The JSE Market Index declined 1,470.77 points to 98,741.92 the JSE All Jamaican Composite index gained 1,643.93 points to close at 109,305.87 but
the JSE combined index rose 1,218.10 points to end at 101,216.67 thanks to gains in the junior market offsetting declines in the main market.IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator was showing a poor reading of only 6 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 7 with offers that were lower, a deterioration over the ratio of 10 to 6 on Tuesday.
In trading, Cable & Wireless had 278,936 units changing hands to close 1 cent higher at 46 cents. Caribbean Cement had only 3,410 units trading at $5.70 after shedding 30 cents, Carreras lost 79 cents in trading just 27,687 shares to close at $48.21. Desnoes and Geddes traded at $7.55 with 42,504 shares, Gleaner ended with 13,000 shares changing hands to gain 8 cents, for a 52 weeks’ high of $1.48, Grace Kennedy gained 50 cents to reach $64 while 132,737 shares changed hands. Kingston Wharves traded just 1,000 shares and shed 55 cents in closing at $6.60,
National Commercial Bank in trading 25,835 shares, to close unchanged at $29.04, Pan Jamaican Investment had 21,147 shares changing hands at $61.50, Pulse Investments traded at a new 52 weeks’ high of 70 cents after adding 15 cents with 9,000 shares trading. Proven Investments ended with 366,320 ordinary shares trading at 21.2 US cents, up from US$21, Sagicor Group gained just 1 cent with 147,788 units trading, to end at $13.01 after trading as high as $14.50, a new 52 weeks’ high and Scotia Group that traded 10,505 shares to close at $24.50 after trading at $25 and as low as $23.25 to gain $1.25.
Trading down on TTSE
Trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange was very moderate on Wednesday with just 10 securities changing hands totalling 150,955 units, valued at $2,328,039. At the close 2 stocks gained, 2 declined and 6 traded firm.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index rose 0.03 points to close at 1,161.98, the All T&T Index advanced by 0.06 points to 1,970.61 and the Cross Listed Index remained at 46.37.
Gains| National Flour Mills had 41,051 shares changing hands, climbed 5 cents to end at $2.05 and Prestige Holdings traded at $9.89, for a 5 cents increase, with 9,026 units changing hands.
Declines| Massy Holdings trading 880 shares to close at $64.34 with a 1 cent loss and Republic Bank closed with 442 shares being purchased at $115.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Angostura Holdings trading 5,005 units at $13.90, 
CLICO Investment Fund with 88,080 units valued at $1,922,808, changing hands and closed at $22.60. Firstcaribbean International Bank with 6,200 shares trading, closed at $5, Guardian Media had 171 shares trading at $19.76, One Caribbean Media ended trading with 100 shares at $22.40 and Sagicor Financial closing with 3,000 shares changing hands to end at $6.27.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with the bid higher than their last selling prices and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.
Political Mismanagement kills J$
Poor Jamaican dollar. killed by political mismanagement
Unfortunately, if this was the end of devaluation for the local currency, it may be considered not too bad but things look as if there is more decline coming with the country’s central bank is ensuring that the target they secretly hold is met, with a hike in the compulsory take from authorized dealers moving up sharply last year to 25 percent of each day’s inflows. Interestingly, while the currency has slipped since the last quarter of 2014, inflation at the same time has been virtually zero, thus giving the currency a real increase in competiveness.
Trading in foreign currencies in Jamaican closed with dealers buying the equivalent of US$38,333,260 in contrast to US$34,883,289 on Tuesday, while they sold the equivalent of US$37,824,842 versus US$38,197,799 previously and pushed the average selling rate for the US dollar over J$117 for the first time.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$36,094,493 compared to US$27,766,608 on Tuesday. The buying rate for the US dollar rose 6 cents to $116.41 and US$36,465,228 was sold versus US$35,932,831 on Tuesday, the selling rate rose 3 cents to $117.01. The Canadian dollar buying rate declined $1.07
to $91.49 with dealers buying C$1,004,694 and selling C$649,575, at an average rate that rose 20 cents to $94.04. The rate for buying the British Pound fell $1.93 to $180.32 for the purchase of £877,924, while £437,821 was sold, at an average rate that rose 1 cent to $183.79. At the end of trading, it took J$130.34 to purchase the Euro, 11 cents less than on Tuesday, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$127.69 for 3 cents less than Tuesday’s rate. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$89,263, while the equivalent of US$149,848 was sold.Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar rose 15 cents to $117.25, the lowest buying rate jumped $4.82 to $95.82, the highest selling rates was unchanged at $122.78, while the lowest selling rate jumped $19.34 to $114.95.
The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar dropped $2.88 to $94, the lowest buying rate lost 33 cents at $74.70. The highest selling rate inched up 27 cents to $97 and the lowest selling rate lost 50 cents to $89.50. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, and the lowest buying rate remained at $183.90 and $147.82,respectively, with the highest selling rate rising $3.61 to $190.99 and the lowest selling rate was up $1.30 to $178.
