Activity on the Junior Market closed with 9 securities trading and ending with units changing hands valued at $1,843,466. The JSE Junior Market Index declined 9.51 points to close at 732.52, with the price of 3 stocks advancing and 4 declining.
At the close of the market, there was only 1 stock with the bid higher than the last selling prices and 1 with a lower offer. The junior market ended with 4 securities closing with no bids to buy and 10 securities that had no stocks being offered for sale.
Stocks trading in the junior market are, Caribbean Producers had 100,000 shares trading at $2.32 with a gain of 1 cent, General Accident Insurance closed at $1.82 with 1,765 shares changing hands, Honey Bun gained 2 cents in trading 28,300 shares to end at $1.82. Consolidated Bakeries traded 37,388 shares at 82 cents, Lasco Distributors 525,321 shares traded between $1.43 and $1.46 to close at $1.43.
Access Financial traded 800 units and lost 1 cent to end at $13.20, Caribbean Cream had 79,230 units changing hands between 65 cents and 75 cents and ended 10 cents lower at 65 cents. Lasco Financial Services 631,000 units traded at the close at $1.08 after losing 7 cents but traded as high as $1.10. Lasco Manufacturing traded 26,717 shares between $1.07 and $1.10 and closed at $1.07 with a loss of 6 cents.
Junior market trading picks up
4 stocks gained 1 fell on TTSE
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange ended on Tuesday with 9 securities comprising 301,289 units, with a value of $4,183,025 changing hands. A total of 4 securities advanced, 1 declined and 4 traded with prices unchanged.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index rose 0.43 points to close at 1,150.93, the All T&T Index rose 0.49 points to 1,965.12and the Cross Listed Index increased by 0.05 points to end at 44.15.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, Clico Investment Fund that gained 6 cents to end at $22.56 with 7,690 shares trading, valued at $173,506, Grace Kennedy with 59,325 shares trading for $213,571, ended at $3.60 for a gain of 5 percent. Guardian Holdings with 223,700 shares changing hands for a value of $3,176,540 ended 6 cents higher at $14.20 and Trinidad Cement traded just 50 shares with a gain of 5 cents to $2.55.
Declines| Republic Bank was the sole stock declining, falling 4 cents to end at $115.84, for a new 52 weeks’ low.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, First Citizens Bank added 1,474 shares at $35.15. Massy Holdings contributed 7,900 shares with a value of $498,490, National Enterprises traded 600 shares to close at $17.30, while National Flour Mills with 50 shares closed at $1.50.
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 gains for Tuesday morning
The Jamaica Stock Exchange all Jamaica composite index rose just 65 points to 96,446.34 and the Jamaica Stock Exchange index is up 58 points to 87,409.64 in a moderate sessions to 10:30 on Tuesday. Some of the stocks to trade are Caribbean Cement with 479,113 units at $2.25, National Commercial Bank with 7,780 shares at $26, Sagicor Group traded 15,500 units at $10.50. Scotia Group that was the stock accounting for the major push in the market yesterday is yet to traded but has a bid for 10,000 at $22.01 with the offer to sell 1,000 shares at $24.05.
In the junior market Lasco Distributors traded 336,621 units at $1.43 and Lasco Financial Services 31,000 shares at $1.10.
J$ slips against majors on Monday
The Jamaican dollar lost value against the three main intervention currencies on Monday continuing the trend from Tuesday. Purchases of all currencies by dealers amounted to US$46,335,229 equivalent, compared with US$35,210,782, on Friday and selling of the equivalent of US$39,799,245 versus sale of US$32,443,841, previously.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$39,685,198 compared to US$31,821,155 on Friday. The buying rate for the US dollar fell 10 cents to $114.57 and US$36,190,849 was sold versus US$31,225,597 on Friday, the selling rate rose 1 cent to end at $115.15. 
The Canadian dollar buying rate declined 73 cents to $91.53 with dealers buying C$1,656,041 and selling C$1,673,465, at an average rate that climbed 38 cents to $94.10. The rate for buying the British Pound fell 82 cents to $168.80 for the purchase of £3,028,741, while £808,640 was sold, at an average rate that rose 7 cents to $171.76. At the end of trading it took J$124.06 to purchase the Euro, 91 cents more than on Friday, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$121.70 for an increase of $1.01 on Friday’s rate. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$864,803, while the equivalent of US$1,034,707, was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, rose 50 cents to $115.80. The lowest buying rate increased by 17 cents to $93.94, the highest selling rate gained 21 cents to $120.37, but the lowest selling rate jumped $18.73 to $112.50. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell $2.80 to $91.20. The lowest buying rate eased $1.33 to $71.21, but the highest selling rate fell $1.41 to $95.10 with the lowest selling rate falling $2.70 to $85.80. The highest buying rate for the British Pound,dropped $2.10 to $170, the lowest buying rate declined by 39 cents to $134.88, but the highest selling rate rose $1.51 to $175.86 with the lowest selling rate falling $2.80 to $162.50.
3 up 4 down on TTSE Monday
Witco at new 52 weeks’ high on Monday
At the close of the market, the Composite Index lost 0.16 points to close at 1,150.50, the All T&T Index fell by just 0.25 points to close at 1,964.63 and the Cross Listed Index eased 0.01 points to end at 44.10.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, Massy Holdings put on 5 cents to end the day at $63.10 while trading only 220 shares. Scotiabank on contributing 13,331 shares with a value of $828,522, gained 4 cents to end at $62.15 and West Indian Tobacco trading 1,458 shares valued at $182,410 to close with a gain of 1 cent at a new 52 weeks’ high of $125.11.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are, Angostura Holdings ending with 125 shares trading, to close down 2 cents at $13.98. Guardian Holdings with 58,300 shares changing hands for a value of $824,945 closed at $14.15 for a 5 cents decline, Republic Bank suffered a loss of 7 cents to close at $115.88 while trading 1,355 shares for a new 52 weeks’ low and Sagicor Financial Corporation added 13,250 shares and closed 1 cent down at $6.Firm Trades|Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Clico Investment Fund trading 10,632 shares valued at $239,220 but remained at $22.50, First Citizens Bank trading 8,795 shares to end at $35.56. JMMB Group traded 6,463 shares at 43 cents, One Caribbean Media contributed 60 shares at $22.30, Prestige Holdings with 500 shares, closed at $10 and Trinidad Cement with 34,200 shares trading at $2.50.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 2 stocks with the bid higher than their last selling prices and 2 stocks with offers that were lower.
JSE near 2 year high with 2,528 points rise
Scotia Group closed higher at the close & helped to push market up on Monday
Main Market|The JSE Market Index gained 2,261.39 points to 87,351.52, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 2,528.34 points to close at 96,381.35 putting it back in line with the close of 96,381.58 on May 3, 2012 and the JSE combined index gained 2,134.42 points to close at 89,072.22. Scotia Group’s price movement to $24.50 in early trading was the major factor behind the big surge in the main market indices, as such there may be a fall back on Tuesday as Scotia’s price seems likely to settle back well below the price of $23.81 used in computing today’s indices, unless other stocks move up to compensate.
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 just 4 with offers that were lower, with 2 of the offers being stocks that hardly trade.In trading, Scotia Investments bought all Scotia Group’s shares to trade, in the early morning session up to $24.50, for a 52 weeks intra-day high, but the stock ended with 205,115 units trading to close at $22.10 with a 24 cents fall from Friday’s last sale price. Desnoes & Geddes traded 92,793 shares up to $5.90, with a 10 cents gain, Grace Kennedy traded 933,318 shares and closed at $62.01, with a total value of $57.8 million,
with the price dropping $1.99 from Friday’s last traded price of $64. National Commercial Bank traded only 21,750 shares to close higher at $26, with an increase of 47 cents. Radio Jamaica 86,383 units that traded did so at $2, Sagicor Group 16,400 units traded at $10.50, Sagicor Real Estate Fund had 48,600 units changing hands at $6.75, to gain 25 cents and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 33,500 units at $3.10.Kingston Wharves traded just 4,00 shares but ended up gaining 50 cents to close at $6.40, Scotia Investments gained 49 cents in trading 1,200 units at $23.50 and Supreme Ventures traded 4,000 units at $2.80 by gaining 30 cents.
Juniors make slight gain Monday
Activity on the Junior Market closed with 7 securities traded ending with units 3,116,855 changing hands valued at $3,021,677. The JSE Junior Market Index declined 0.76 points to close at 742.03, with the price of 3 stocks advancing and 1 declining.
At the close of the market, there were 3 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 1 with a lower offer. The junior market ended with 5 securities closing with no bids to buy and 11 securities that had no stocks being offered for sale.
Stocks trading in the junior market are, Caribbean Cream in only one trade ending with 2,500,000 units changing hands for 10 cents higher at 75 cents. Paramount Trading ended with 15,000 shares trading at $3.57, to gain 2 cents. General Accident Insurance had 282,299 shares trading at $1.70, to decline by 1 cent, Lasco Distributors ended with 26,000 shares trading at $1.43, Lasco Financial Services with 28,300 units at $1.15, Lasco Manufacturing 215,456 units at $1.13 and Eppley 9.5% preference share trading 49,800 shares and gained a cent to end at $6.01.
JSE indices makes big gains
The Jamaica Stock Exchange all Jamaica composite index rose 1,798.64 points to 95,651.65 and the Jamaica Stock Exchange index is up 1,608.73 points to 86,698.86 as Scotia Investment bought all Scotia Group’s shares to trade up to $24.50 for a 52 weeks high and Carreras traded up to $44 at 10 am. No junior market stock has traded so far. Grace Kennedy traded 931,318 shares at $62.06, with a total value of $57.8 million, on Friday the last price the stock traded at was $64.
There are now only two offers for Scotia Group’s shares in the market totaling 85,000 units between $24.49 and $24.50, Scotia Investments is on the bid at $22.50.
Paramount’s Q3 sales fell cost rose
Declining sales and rising cost in the February quarter over the November quarter were the noticeable features for Paramount Trading. The result, lower profit only $26.4 million versus $49.2 million.
Profit nevertheless jumped 121 percent to $109 million for the nine months to February this year with the February quarter rising 82 percent over that of 2014.
The slippage in performance in the latest quarter came from a drop in sales to $209 million from $228 million in the November quarter and a fall in gross profit margin from 37 percent to 32 percent as cost of sales remained at roughly $146 million in both quarters. Total administrative and other expenses also rose in the last quarter over that of November by close to $6 million or 13 percent but they were lower than in the 2014 quarter as finance cost fell sharply from $8 million to only $2 million.
Total revenues rose 18 percent in the February quarter and 25 percent for the nine month period to hit $213 million and $651 million respectively.
The company reported earnings of 17 cents per share for the quarter and 71 for the nine months and is on its way to reporting profit of $1.10 per share for the current year ending in May and $1.50 for the following year.
Finances| Paramount has seen a slight improvement in receivables with a reduction in the number of weeks amounts are due for falling from around 10 weeks in February 2014 down to 9 weeks in 2015 even as the amount increased from $139 million to $151 million. Inventories rose to $275 million from $216 million in 2014 and cash funds rose to $79 million. Amounts due to suppliers is steady at $127 million with the 2014 year-end figures and down from the amounts due at February 2014.
The company deals mainly in chemicals and is listed on the junior market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the last price is $3.55, giving it a PE of 3.2 thus maintaining its BUY RATED status.
J$ slips against majors on Friday
The Jamaican dollar lost value against the three main intervention currencies on Friday. Purchases of all currencies by dealers amounted to US$35,210,782 equivalent, compared with US$28,578,146, on Thursday and selling of the equivalent of US$32,443,841 versus sale of US$32,418,021, previously.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$31,821,155 compared to US$25,616,117 on Thursday. The buying rate for the US dollar added 15 cents to $114.67 and US$31,225,597was sold versus US$30,649,770 on Thursday, the selling rate rose 5 cents to end at $115.14. 
The Canadian dollar buying rate moved up by $1.53 to $92.27 with dealers buying C$1,129,211 and selling C$434,316, at an average rate that climbed 86 cents to $93.72. The rate for buying the British Pound rose 23 cents to $169.62 for the purchase of £1,162,803, while £437,343 was sold, at an average rate that rose 76 cents to $171.69. At the end of trading it took J$123.14 to purchase the Euro, $1.09 more than on Thursday, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$120.68 for a increase of $1.13 on Thursday’s rate. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$761,070, while the equivalent of US$212,529, was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, rose 12 cents to $115.30. The lowest buying rate increased by 8 cents to $93.77, the highest selling rate gained 11 cents to $120.16, but the lowest selling rate dropped $1.77 to $93.77. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell 20 cents to $94. The lowest buying rate stayed at $72.54, but the highest selling rate rose 34 cents to $96.51 with the lowest selling rate rising $1.10 to $88.50. The highest buying rate for the British Pound,climbed 40 cents to $172.10, the lowest buying rate rose 8 cents to $135.27, but the highest selling rate fell $1 to $174.35 with the lowest selling rate jumping $2.20 to $165.30.
