After more than two than hours of normal trading time, trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange is yet to commence. The exchange advised that technicians are working on the system and no time was given as to the time frame to have the system back up.
In Wednesday’s trading all the main indices fell as 12 stocks rose and 12 declined out of a total of 31 securities that traded. At the close the indicators were not very promising that todays activity would reflect a much different picture of sideward movement in the markets.
The system returned at minutes before mid day with 5 stocks trading. The JSE informed IC Insider that trading will end at 3 PM today.
JSE trading system was down now up
12 up 12 down on JSE Wednesday
The JSE Market Index lost 137.06 points to 97,315.35, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index declining by 153.20 points to close at 107,711.34 but the JSE combined index declined 273.13 points to end at 99,982.34.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 9 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 8 with offers that were lower.
In trading, Caribbean Cement closed with 38,245 shares changing hands at $5.50, Carreras traded 12,000 shares but closed with a loss of $2.15 at $48.35, Desnoes & Geddes lost 45 cents in trading 21,600 shares to close at $7.55. Gleaner ended with 13,645 shares changing hands but gained 8 cents at the close to $1.08, Grace Kennedy had 26,700 units changing hands and fell 50 cents to $63.50, Jamaica Broilers remained firm in trading 94,000 units to end at $6. Jamaica Stock Exchange in trading 17,135 shares ended with a gain of 1 cent at $6.81, at the close Stocks and Securities offered 982,865 units for sale at $6.80. Kingston Wharves traded 12,229 shares in closing at $7. The stock traded at a 52 weeks’ intraday high of $7.01, Mayberry Investments traded 123,703 shares to dip 7 cents at $2.53, National Commercial Bank declined by just 1 cents in trading 144,522 shares to close at $29, Proven Investments traded 117,000 shares to close at 21.5 US cents up from the closing price of 19.01 US cents on Tuesday. Sagicor Group fell 10 cents with 1,510,308 units trading to end at $12.85, Sagicor Real Estate Fund closed 1 cent down at $8 after 11,625 shares were exchanged and Scotia Group had 156,455 units trading 25 cents higher at $23.50.
LascoMan trades 3m units
The JSE Junior Market Index declined 15.87 points to close at 908.39, with the price of 6 stocks advancing, 3 declining with 2 closing at 52 weeks’ high. At the close, there were 6 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices, 5 with lower offers and 4 securities closing with no bids to buy and 5 that had no stocks being offered for sale.
Stocks trading in the junior market are, Access Financial ending with 1,000 shares changing hands to close with a loss of $2 at $13.50. Cargo Handlers finished with 36,551 units to close with a gain of $1, to a new all-time high of $26, Caribbean Cream with 9,800 shares traded lower by 1 cent to $1.59, Dolphin Cove trading 97,462 shares to close higher by 20 cents at a new high of $12.78. General Accident closed with 8,333 shares trading 5 cents higher at $1.72, Honey Bun ended with a gain of 3 cents to close at $2.88 with 100,000 shares changing hands. Jamaican Teas ended with 100,000 shares changing hands, to close at $4, Knutsford Express closed at $6.10 while 4,899 shares changed hands. Lasco Distributors traded only 4,400 shares to close at $1.68, for a gain of 3 cents, Lasco Financial traded only 2,385 shares but added 15 cents in closing at $1.95 and Lasco Manufacturing was the big trade for the day with 3 million shares but lost 10 cents to end at $1.30.
Trading hits $3.17m on TTSE
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange ended with 10 securities changing hands of which 1 advanced, 3 declined and 6 traded firm with a total of 138,581 units, valued at $3,166,752.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index lost 0.21 points to close at 1,160.78, the All T&T Index declined by 0.08 at 1,968.14 and the Cross Listed Index fell by a mere 0.05 points to end at 46.38.
Gains| Scotiabank trading 1,010 shares to close 4 cents higher at $62.20, is the only stock gaining at the close.
Declines| Massy Holdings traded 300 shares to close at $64.34 after losing 1 cent, National Enterprises declined 9 cents to end the day at a 52 weeks’ low of $17.10 while trading only 2,664 units and Sagicor Financial Corporation traded 15,237 shares, to close at $6.25 while losing 5 cents.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, ANSA Mcal with 9,222 shares with a value of $620,180 changing hands, ended at $67.25. CLICO Investment Fund traded 53,600 units in closing at $22.57, First Citizens Bank with 23,388 shares trading for $835,952 closed at $35.75, Flavorite Foods contributing 31,511 shares to close at $4.80, while National Flour had 1,672 shares to end at $2.05 and West Indian Tobacco closed 1,141 shares trading at $125.50.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 3 stocks with the bid higher than their last selling prices and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.
Moderate first hour for JSE
After an hour’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Wednesday, the main market indices are down with Jamaica Broilers losing 55 cents to $5.45 and National Commercial Bank trading at $29.01, but the junior market is up just a.
The prices of 5 stocks gained, and 4 declined as 16 securities traded including just 3 in the junior market with the total volume of stocks trading amounting to only 155,935 units. Cargo Handlers traded 36,551 shares at a new high of $26 with a gain of $1.
TheJSE Market Index lost 209.68 points to 97,242.73 the JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell 234.37 points to 107,630.17 at and the JSE combined index gave up 194.50 points to 100,060.973, the junior market index rose 0.35 points to 924.61.
2 new junior market highs
At the close of the market, there were 7 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices, 2 with lower offers and 4 securities closing with no bids to buy and 6 that had no stocks being offered for sale.
Stocks trading in the junior market are, AMG Packaging ending with 7,852 shares changing hands to close at $3.16. Blue Power closed with 1,141 shares trading $1.01 lower at $9.50, Cargo Handlers finished with 76,100 units to close with a gain of $1, to a new all-time high of $25, Caribbean Cream with 24,200 shares traded lower by 10 cents to $1.60, Dolphin Cove trading 10,971 shares to closed higher by 8 cents at a new high of $12.58. Jamaican Teas ended with 52,591 shares changing hands, to close at $4, Knutsford Express closed at $6.10 while 1,697 shares changed hands. Lasco Distributors traded 107,536 shares to close at $1.65, there was dealing in 14,440 Lasco Manufacturing’s shares at $1.40, Medical Disposables contributed 7,031 shares with the price ending at $2.30 and Eppley 2019 preference share exchanged 24,310 units at $6.
JSE poised to rise on Wednesday
Activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange picked up with one of the better trading days in terms of the number of securities being active. At the close there were 14 stocks rising, 8 declining as 39 securities changed hands, including 4 that closed at new 52 weeks’ high and ending in 4,671,007 units trading, valued at $73,832,092, in all market segments.
The changes in the market indices were very small with the JSE Market Index gaining just 13.43 points to 97,452.41, theJSE All Jamaican Composite index rising by 15.01 points to close at 107,864.54 but the JSE combined index declined by 4.07 points to end at 100,255.47.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 14 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and just 3 with offers that were lower, a suggestion that advancing stocks should have the upper hand again on Wednesday.
In trading, Cable & Wireless closed with 1,149,216 units trading to end at 45 cents, Carreras traded 321,462 shares and gained $2.19 to end at $50.50, Desnoes & Geddes gained 44 cents in trading 733,245 shares to close at $8. Gleaner ended with 108,114 shares changing hands but lost 8 cents at the close, Grace Kennedy had 26,700 units changing hands and put on 64 cents to $64, Jamaica Broilers gained 55 cents while trading 8,410 units to end at $6. JMMB Group ended with 20,085 shares trading unchanged at $7.50, Kingston Wharves put on 30 cents in closing at $7 having traded just 2,900 units. Mayberry Investments traded 252,867 shares to close at $2.60 after shedding 30 cents, National Commercial Bank lost 44 cents in trading 1,008,211 shares at $29.01 at the end. 138 Student Living regained the 40 cents it lost recently to close at $4.40 with 20,000 units changing hands, Pan Jamaican dropped $2.70 with 59,230 units to close at $60.80, Proven Investments traded 305,252 shares between 22 US cents and the closing price of 19.01 US cents, for a slight gain at the end. Radio Jamaica closed with a gain of 30 cents to a new 52 weeks’ high of $3.50 with just 4,214 shares changing hands, Sagicor Group was up 55 cents with 191,448 units trading to end at $12.95, Sagicor Real Estate X Fund closed 1 cent higher at a new high of $8.01 after 4,000 shares were exchanged. Scotia Group had 95,808 units trading 10 cents higher at $23.25 and Scotia Investments traded 15,000 shares at $29.85 at the close.
Ja$ loses value vs US on Tuesday
The Jamaican dollar lost ground on Tuesday against the US dollar but gained on the Canadian dollar and the Pound. Dealers bought the equivalent of US$33,052,701 compared with US$38,566,283 on Monday, while they sold the equivalent of US$35,474,277 versus US$33,558,404 previously.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$29,480,545 compared to US$35,549,329 on Monday. The buying rate for the US dollar increased 12 cents at $116.08 and US$32,534,666 was sold versus US$31,984,474 on Monday, the selling rate rose 5 cents to $116.70. The Canadian dollar buying rate rose 32 cents to $92.70 with dealers buying C$1,040,772 and selling C$781,080, at an average rate that fell 33 cents to $94.75. The rate for buying the British Pound gained 69 cents to $181.84 for the purchase of £1,661,629, while £960,999 was sold, at an average rate that dropped 77 cents to $183.80. At the end of trading, it took J$132.94 to purchase the Euro, 78 cents more than on Monday, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$130.18 for 65 cents more than Monday’s rate. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$138,081, while the equivalent of US$791,938 was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar dropped $3.36 to $117.15 the lowest buying and the highest selling rates remained at $95.61 and $122.52 respectively but the lowest selling rate leapt $18.64 to $114. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar rose 30 cents to $95.50, the lowest buying rate ended 12 cents lower at $75.53. The highest selling rate was down 17 cents to $98 and the lowest selling rate fell 55 cents to $90.60. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, dipped 60 cents to $184, the lowest buying rate gained 33 cents to $148.57, with the highest selling rate falling $3.45 to $187.65 and the lowest selling rate climbed 40 cents to $179.