Blog Page — Page 1266

Jamaica’s 2014 trade deficit falls

March 25, 2015 by IC Insider.com

Imports of petroleum fell

Jamaica’s expenditure on merchandise imports during January to November 2014 fell by US$280 million or 5 percent to US$5,287 million when compared to the same period in 2013. Earnings from total exports fell by US$109 million or 7.5 percent to US$1.35 billion. The trade deficit a narrowed to by 4.1 percent or US$171 million to US$3.94 billion, compared to the similar 2013 period.
Major contributors to the fall in imports were declines of Mineral Fuels with a decline of US$154 million or 7.9 per cent, food declined by US$51 million or 5.8 per cent, to US$837 million. Chemicals fell by US$130 million or 18.6 per cent, lower imports of ethanol products were the primary contributor to this decline. Beverages & Tobacco decreased by US$66 million, US$4 million or 6.1 percent below the US$71 million recorded in the similar 2013 period.

Bauxite mining

Increased imports took place in Machinery and Transport Equipment valued at US$847 million, which grew by US$14 million or 1.7 percent and Manufactured Goods grew by US$17 million or 3.1 percent to US$561 million.
Exports|Earnings from traditional exports increased up by US$19 million or 2.7 percent to US$739 million, due to increases in Mining and Quarrying but Non-Traditional domestic exports valued at US$549 million, fell 16.9 percent or US$111 million.

Filed Under: Economy, Feature Stories Tagged With: Economy, Jamaica Exports, Jamaica's trade deficit, Jamaican Imports, Petroleum imports

Sagicor dominant trade at $53m

March 24, 2015 by IC Insider.com

Tuesday’s activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, resulted in the prices of 8 stocks rising, 6 declining as 23 securities changed hands, ending in 7,517,895 units trading, valued at $70,926,533, in all market segments. Sagicor Group accounted for $53.4 million of the trades.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 208.93 points to 82,549.69, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 233.59 points to close at 91,012.68 and the JSE combined index gained 203.49 points to end at 84,221.49.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows a strong signal of 12 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and only 3 with offers that were lower.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Berger Paints concluding trading with 18,240 shares, gaining of 1 cent to $1.61, Jamaica Money Market Brokers finishing with 1,362,305 ordinary shares changing hands while gaining 31 cents to $7.26, Jamaica Producers closing with 2,412 shares trading 4 cents higher at $16. National Commercial Bank trading 6,225 shares while gaining 49 cents to $24.99, Pan Jamaican Investment finishing with 6,650 units with a gain of 4 cents at $55.05, Scotia Group closing with 255,000 shares traded with a gain of 12 cents to $21 and Supreme Ventures trading in 103,487 shares to end with an increase of 30 cents to $2.30.

Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Cable & Wireless there was dealing in 109,310 shares changing hands 52 cents, Caribbean Cement contributing 648 shares trading at $2.30, Desnoes & Geddes ending trading with 26,804 shares at $5.45, Grace Kennedy finishing trading with 6,781 shares at $61, Kingston Wharves while exchanged 1,190 units at $6.40, Scotia Investments closed with 1,540 shares changing hands at $23.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Jamaica Broilers closing with 89,424 units to close lower by 1 cents to $4.05, Kingston Properties finishing trading with 10,000 units as the price slipped 50 cents to $7, Mayberry Investments concluding trading with 100,000 units to close lower by 2 cents to $2.38, Sagicor Group in trading 5,081,242 units as the price slipped 5 cents to $10.55 and Seprod finishing trading with 1,662 shares changing hands 10 cents lower to $12.90.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.5% preference shares 38,000 shares changing hands $2.

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Berger Paints, Cable & Wireless, Caribbean Cement, Desnoes & Geddes, Grace Kennedy, Jamaica Broilers, Jamaica Money Market Brokers, Jamaica Producers, Kingston Properties, Kingston Wharves, Mayberry Investments, National Commercial Bank, Pan Jamaican Investment, Sagicor Group, Scotia Group, Scotia Investments, Seprod, Supreme Ventures

US$28 million sell off on Tuesday

March 24, 2015 by IC Insider.com

There continues to be net selling of foreign currencies in the system, with net sales on Tuesday, reaching the highest level in recent days, with net sales of US$28 million. Purchases of all currencies by dealers amounted to US$38,377,465 equivalent, compared with US$47,949,340, on Monday and selling of the equivalent of US$66,929,309 versus US$41,988,424 on the previous trading day.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$34,755,724 compared to US$43,517,411 on Monday. The buying rate for the US dollar was unchanged at $114.65 and US$64,588,710 was sold versus US$40,670,316 on Monday, the selling rate slipped 2 cents to end at $115.13. The Canadian dollar buying rate rose 4 cents to $89.65 with dealers buying C$1,046,278 and selling C$861,133, at an average rate that climbed 72 cents to $91.89. The rate for buying the British Pound rose 42 cents to $169.31 for the purchase of £1,764,250, while £974,090 was sold, at an average rate of $170.63, for a fall of 50 cents. At the end of trading it took J$125.82 to purchase the Euro, $1.48 more than on Monday, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$123.40 for an increase of $1.43 over Monday’s rate. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$198,339 while the equivalent of US$209,741, was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, moved up $1.05 to $116.80. The lowest buying, highest selling and the lowest selling rates remained at $93.94, $120.37 and $93.94 respectively. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar dipped 5 cents to $91.75, the lowest buying rate rose 17 cents to $71.63, but the highest selling rate rose 33 cents to $94.48 and the lowest selling rate rose $1 to $87.30. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, fell 20 cents to $171.30. The lowest buying rate rose 46 cents to $137.20, the highest selling rate gained 59 cents to $176.87 and the lowest selling rate rose 55 cents to $165.30.

Filed Under: FX Market, Stock Market Tagged With: BOJ, British Pound, Canadian dollar, FX Market, J$ vs euro, Jamaica dollar, US Dollar

Only 4 junior stocks trade on Tuesday

March 24, 2015 by IC Insider.com

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Activity on the Junior Market closed on Tuesday with only 4 securities trading and ending with 296,975 units changing hands valued at $355,613. The JSE Junior Market Index gained 0.75 points to close at 706.16, with the price of 2 stocks advancing and none declining.
At the close of the market, there were 6 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and just 1 stock with a lower offer. The junior market ended with 5 securities closing with no bids to buy and 7 securities that had no stocks being offered for sale.
Stocks trading in the junior market are, AMG Packaging had 18,363 units at $2.49 for a 24 cents increase, Caribbean Cream with only 4,000 shares at 75 cents, with a 1 cent gain, Lasco Financial Services trading 90,000 units at $1.05 and Lasco Manufacturing with 184,612 units at $1.15.

Filed Under: JSE Junior Market, Stock Market Tagged With: AMG Packaging, junior market, Lasco Financial Services, Lasco Manufacturing

JSE closes with triple digit gains

March 24, 2015 by IC Insider.com

The JSE was showing some bullish tendencies in Tuesday trading with 19 securities traded in the main market accounting for 7.22 million units with a value of $70.5 million. Sagicor Group had 5 million units changing hands at $10.50 and $10.57 and closed at $10.55. Jamaica Money Market Brokers was the other major traded with 1,362,305 shares between $7 and $7.25 with the last traded price being $7.26. Scotia group traded 255,000 units at $21 and Supreme Ventures put on 30 cents while trading a small volume
At the close he JSE Market Index gained 208.93 points to 82,549.69, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 233.59 points to close at 91,012.68 and the JSE combined index gained 203.49 points to close at 84,221.49.

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Jamaica Money Market Brokers, Sagicor Group, Scotia Group, Supreme Ventures

6 TTSE stocks rose on Tuesday

March 24, 2015 by IC Insider.com

Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange on Tuesday ended with 14 securities changing hands of which 6 advanced, 1 declined and 7 traded firm with a total of 264,285 units, valued at $3,318,646.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index lost 0.48 points to close at 1,155.73, the All T&T Index fell by just 1.59 points to close at 1,972.66 and the Cross Listed Index fell / increased by a mere 0.08 points to end at 44.42.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, Guardian Media closing at $19.76 having gained 1 cent with 4,922 shares changing hands, Massy Holdings gained 1 cent to end at $63.01 with 13,516 shares trading for a value of $851,623. Point Lisas Industrial Port closing with 30 shares changing hands 1 cent higher at $3.53, Scotiabank traded 821 shares to close 4 cents higher at $62.05, Trinidad Cement with 20,700 shares trading closed 2 cents up at $2.62 and West Indian Tobacco traded 7,238 shares valued at $905,043 to close with a gain of 2 cent at $125.05.
Declines| Scotia Investments traded 32,082 shares but lost 2 cents and closed at $1.50 to be the sole stocks declining.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Clico Investment Fund with 30,230 shares valued at $680,427 to end at $22.50, Grace Kennedy contributing 36,670 shares with a value of $129,812, to close at $3.54, Guardian Holdings closing at $14.50 while trading 5,800 units. National Commercial Bank with 64,322 shares changing hands for a value of $100,342, closing at $1.56, National Enterprises with 2,635 shares trading at $17.35, One Caribbean Media contributed 1,294 shares at $22.30 and Sagicor Financial Corporation with 44,025 shares trading for $242,140 to end at $5.50.
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.

Filed Under: Stock Market, TTSE Market Tagged With: clico, First Citizens, Grace Kennedy, Guardian Holdings, Guardian Media, JMMB, Massy Holdings, National Enterprises, NCB, One Caribbean Media, Point Lisas Industrial Port, Sagicor, Trading Activity, Trinidad Cement, TTSE, West Indian Tobacco

Some bull signals at 10.45

March 24, 2015 by IC Insider.com

The JSE was showing some bullish tendencies in early Tuesday morning trading with Jamaica Money Market showing signs of some increased interest and possibly upward price movement and a few others having recorded gains so far.
Jamaica Money Market traded 1,360,861 shares at $7 but had a bid of $7.25 to buy 5,000 units, the offer was at $7.99 for 7,000 shares. Sagicor Group had 4,833,200 units changing hands at $10.50 and Scotia Group 250,000 units at $21 and Supreme Ventures put on 29 cents while trading a small volume. Only two stocks have traded in the junior market so far. Price changes have shifted the market indices moderately.

Filed Under: JSE Main Market, Stock Market Tagged With: JMMB, Sagicor, Scotia, Supreme Ventures

Remittances top $2.16b in 2014

March 24, 2015 by IC Insider.com

Remittance inflows for 2014 exceeded the amount earned by Jamaica in 2013 by US$95 million or 4.6 percent, according to data released by Jamaica’s Central Bank.
The country saw total inflows of US$2.16 billion for the January to December period. The total flows are likely to be just under the $2.2 billion estimated inflows from the tourism sector for 2014.
Net remittances for 2014 were US$1.93 billion, representing a growth of US$102 million or 5.6 percent compared to 2013 and emanated from an increase in gross inflows and a reduction of outflows.
The increase in total remittance inflows reflected an increase of US$95 million in inflows through Remittance Companies. This increase was however partly offset by a decline of US$0.5 million in inflows from the Other Remittances sub-category.

Filed Under: Breaking News, Economy, Feature Stories, FX Market, Stock Market Tagged With: Jamaica remittances

J$ gains over US on Monday

March 23, 2015 by IC Insider.com

The Jamaican dollar gained against the US dollar but lost value with Canadian and the British pound on Monday. Purchases of all currencies by dealers amounted to US$47,949,340 equivalent, compared with US$33,878,712, on Friday and selling of the equivalent of US$41,988,424 versus US$37,124,006 on the previous trading day.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$43,517,411 compared to US$31,453,510 on Friday. The buying rate for the US dollar fell 6 cents to $114.65 and US$40,670,316 was sold versus US$35,820,483 on Friday, the selling rate slipped 4 cents to end at $115.15. The Canadian dollar buying rate rose 88 cents to $89.61 with dealers buying C$1,846,965 and selling C$498,019, at an average rate that climbed 84 cents to $91.17. The rate for buying the British Pound rose 38 cents to $168.89 for the purchase of £1,850,261, while £518,411 was sold, at an average rate of $171.12, for an increase of 48 cents. At the end of trading it took J$124.34 to purchase the Euro, $1.88 more than on Friday, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$121.97 for an increase of $1.88 over Friday’s rate. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$262,842 while the equivalent of US$153,421, was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, inched up 27 cents to end at 115.75, the lowest buying and highest selling rates remained at $93.94 and $120.37 respectively, while the lowest selling rate fell $2.23, to $93.94. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar rose 20 cents to $91.80, the lowest buying rate was unchanged at $71.46, but the highest selling rate rose $1.70 to $94.15 and the lowest selling rate rose 20 cents to $86.30. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, fell 5 cents to $171.50. The lowest buying rate rose 12 cents to $136.74, the highest selling rate gained $1.01 to $176.28 and the lowest selling rate rose $1.80 to $164.75.

Filed Under: FX Market, Stock Market Tagged With: BOJ, British Pound, Canadian dollar, Daily Trading, FX Market, J$ vs euro, Jamaica dollar, US Dollar

JSE starts week moderately

March 23, 2015 by IC Insider.com

Sagicor Group closed at a new 52 weeks’ high

Monday’s activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, resulted in the prices of 5 stocks rising, 4 declining as 9 securities changed hands, ending in 1,600,603 units trading, valued at $12,582,937, in all market segments.
Main Market| At the close the JSE Market Index ended at 82,340.76 with a mere 1.46 point rise, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index closed at 90,779.09 with a gain of 1.63 points and JSE Combined Index finished at 84,018.00 with an increase of 5.70 points.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 11 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 with offers that were lower.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the close of the main market are, Carreras contributing 5,000 shares while gaining 60 cents to end at $39.10. Desnoes & Geddes closing with 50,000 units and gained 14 cents to $5.45, Sagicor Group saw trading in 222,193 shares to gain 14 cents to $10.60 and Scotia Group concluding trading with 24,124 shares to end with an increase of 3 cents to $20.88.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Berger Paints in trading a mere 100 shares trading at $1.60, Caribbean Cement finishing trading with 4,002 shares at $2.30. There was dealing in 1,430 Grace Kennedy shares at $61, Jamaica Money Market Brokers having 142,547 ordinary shares changing hands, closed at $6.95, Proven Investments trading 14,797 shares closed at 18 US cents and Sagicor Real Estate Fund closed with 1,000 shares changing hands at $6.70.

Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Jamaica Broilers finishing with 25,338 units to close lower by 24 cents at $4.06. Jamaica Producers closing with 2,500 units as the price slipped 4 cents to $15.96, National Commercial Bank finishing trading with 237,872 units to close lower by 35 cents at $24.50 and Supreme Ventures concluding trading with 4,100 units as the price slipped 30 cents to $2.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference shareending trading with 59,000 units at $3.04 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share had 750,000 shares changing hands at $2.