The Jamaican stock market recorded gains for the second consecutive trading day, with another day of triple digit gains, in the main market indices. 
The JSE Market Index gained 377.14 on top of 456.93 points gained on Tuesday to 82,533.16, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index that gained 510.86 points on Tuesday recorded a gain of 421.66 points to close at 90,994.20 and the JSE combined index climbed 397.54 on Wednesday compared to 363.77 points on Tuesday to close at 84,294.53.
The total sum expended on stocks was virtually the same as on Tuesday, with $15,520,825 versus $15,185,420 yesterday. Twenty-one securities traded, 6 less than on Tuesday in all markets. Stocks with major price changes include, Jamaica Broilers that gained 40 cents and Pan Jamaican Investment with an increase of $1.01 while National Commercial Bank share lost 85 cents and Scotia Group 40 cents.
Jamaica stock market up again.
JSE up in early at mid day
The all Jamaican composite index is up 422 points to 90,995 points and the JSE index gained 377 points at 82,533 points at mid day on Wednesday. Pan Jam gained $2 to hit $56, Sagiocr Life is up 7 cents to $10.60, but NCB fell 90 cents to $24.10.
4 TTSE stocks rose 3 fell Tuesday
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange with 16 securities changing hands of which 4 advanced, 3 declined and 9 traded firm with a total of 252,342 units, valued at $2,209,695.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index rose 1.11 points to close at 1,153.78, the All T&T Index gained 1.97 points to close at 1,978.60 and the Cross Listed Index increased by a mere 0.03 points to end at 43.10.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, First Citizens Bank trading 2.981 shares to close with a gain of 2 cents at $35.26, Guardian Holdings with 71,200 shares changing hands, for a value of $1,037,220, gained 59 cents to end at a new 52 weeks’ high, of $14.65. Sagicor Financial Corporation trading 490 shares to close with a gain of 4 cents at $5.20, Trinidad Cement with a volume of 51,480 shares traded for $136,422, closed with a gain of 15 cents to end at $2.65.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are, Agostini’s contributing 283 shares with the price closing 2 cents lower at $17.38, Angostura Holdings added 27,500 shares valued at $398,750 falling 39 cents to close at $14.50 and Scotiabank with 130 shares trading closed down a cent at $62.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Clico Investment Fund trading 4,681 shares valued at $105,374 to end at $22.50, Flavorite Foods trading 18,607 shares at $4.80, Grace Kennedy trading 1,453 units at $3.59, Jamaica Money Market Brokers while contributing 50,000 shares, closed unchanged at 43 cents. Massy Holdings traded 502 shares to close at $63.37, National Enterprises saw trading in just 11,315 shares valued at $196,297 to close at $17.35, Prestige Holdings traded 1,453 shares to close at $9.91, Scotia Investments traded 10,000 shares in closing at $1.50, and West Indian Tobacco trading 303 units and closed at $125.04.
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 with offers that were lower.
Trading climbs to 10 securities Tuesday
Activity on the Junior Market closed with the number of securities traded increasing to 10 compared to 5 on Monday and ending with 598,646 units changing hands valued at $998,353. The JSE Junior Market Index declined 7.11 points to close at 711.08, with the price of 2 stocks advancing and 3 declining.
At the close of the market, there were 3 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 stocks with offers that were lower. The junior market ended with 4 securities closing with no bids to buy and 6 securities that had no stocks being offered for sale.
Stocks trading in the junior market are, Caribbean Flavours contributing 30,000 shares, losing 9 cents to $1.85, Blue Power ending trading with 45,000 shares with a loss of 93 cents to $7.23. Lasco Distributors closing with 190,329 units as the price slipped 10 cents to $1.45, Lasco Manufacturing finishing trading with 214,460 units to close lower by 10 cents to $1.15, Lasco Financial concluding trading with 47,000 units as the price slipped 5 cents to $1.10. Caribbean Producers finishing with 50,000 shares changing hands and ended at $2.10, Consolidated Bakeries finishing with 746 units to close at 90 cents, Derrimon Trading in with 2,796 shares trading at $2.04, General Accident finishing trading with 7,315 shares closed at $1.60, Medical Disposables had dealing in 11,000 units with the price ending at $1.75.
J$ revaluation continues Tuesday
The Jamaican dollar had another day of moderate appreciation on Tuesday, against the major currencies it normally trades except for a slight loss in value against the British pound. Purchases of all currencies by dealers amounted to US$34,344,124 equivalent, compared with US$50,720,161, on Monday and selling of the equivalent of US$48,294,987 versus US$42,249,077 on the previous trading day.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$31,906,901 compared to US$46,581,763 on Monday. The buying rate for the US dollar inched up 1 cent to $114.88 and US$46,253,301 was sold versus US$40,210,226 on Monday, the selling rate slipped 5 cents to end at $115.34. The Canadian dollar buying rate fell 81 cents to $88.03 with dealers buying C$870,046 and selling C$723,711, at an average rate that dropped 26 cents to $89.94. The rate for buying the British Pound declined $1.56 to $167.73 for the purchase of £1,094,285, while £670,407 was sold, at an average rate of $170.04, for a gain of 8 cents. At the end of trading it took J$122.06 to purchase the Euro, 58 cents more than on Monday, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$119.69 for an increase of 61 cents over Monday’s rate. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$172,752 while the equivalent of US$488,979, was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, inched up 5 cents to end at 115.85, the lowest buying rate declined by 42 cents to $93.94. The highest selling rate remained at $120.91 while the lowest selling rate rose $18.14, to end at $112.50. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell 25 cents to $90.05, the lowest buying rate was down 34 cents to $71.21. The highest selling rate lost 22 cents to $92.50 and the lowest selling rate dropped 40 cents to $85.80. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, dived 15 cents to $174.05. The lowest buying rate rose 25 cents to $136.45, the highest selling rate fell $3.15 to $179 and the lowest selling rate rose 30 cents to $164.40.
JSE’s healthy climb on Tuesday
The Jamaica Stock Exchange reported healthy gains in the main indices on Tuesday, resulting from in the prices of 8 stocks rising, 6 declining as 27 securities changed hands, ending with 3,289,252 units trading, valued at $15,185,420, in all market segments.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 456.93 points to 82,156.02, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 510.86 points to close at 90,572.54 and the JSE combined index climbed 363.77 points to close at 83,896.99.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows 7 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with offers that were lower.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Jamaica Broilers ended trading with 38,820 shares traded to gain 8 cents to $4.10, National Commercial Bank finishing trading with 47,077 units to close higher by 50 cents to $25. Sagicor Group concluded trading in 206,353 units, to gain of 3 cents at a new 52 weeks closing high of $10.53. Sagicor Real Estate Fund finished trading with 23,188 shares, changing hands 10 cents higher at $6.80, Scotia Group closed with 24,696 units as the price gained 66 cents to $21.50 and Seprod concluding trading with only 683 shares, the price gained 40 cents to end at $12.30.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Berger Paints ending with 5,000 shares changing hands at $1.55Caribbean Cement closing with 790 units at $2.30, Desnoes & Geddes trading 1,850 shares to close at $5.40, Gleaner closing with 195,020 shares at 90 cents and Grace Kennedy closed with 9,880 shares changing hands at $61.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Cable & Wireless contributed 548,061 shares changing hands 1 cent to 50 cents, Carreras had dealing in 41,876 shares at 5 cents to $37.95 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers while exchanging 795,562 shares at 10 cents to $7.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share finishing trading with 665,000 shares units at $2,Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share finished trading with 38,750 shares to close at $3 and Proven Investments 8% concluding trading with 48,000 shares traded at $5.05.
JSE closes up on Tuesday
The JSE Market Index gained 456.93 points to 82,156.02, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 510.86 points to close at 90,572.54 and the JSE combined index climbed 363.77 points to close at 83,896.99 as a total of only $15,185,420 was spent on stocks.
National Commercial Bank Shares ended at $25 after 47
JSE trading Tuesday morning
Trading has been slow on the Jamaica Stock Exchange so far with only 4 securities trading.
Profit up at Prestige
Prestige Holdings with its KFC, Subway, TGI Fridays and Pizza Hut franchises reported improved results for the first twelve months of the fiscal year ending November 2014, but from revenues that were virtually flat.
Cost containment below that of 2013 also helped with the improvement in the profit out turn. Group revenue increased by 2 percent for the year to TT$922 million but declined 3 percent in the last quarter to $224 million. Profit after tax increased by 39 percent for the year to $50 million but declined by 98 percent to $101,000 in the November quarter. In 2013, the company wrote off its investment in TGI Friday operations in Barbados and was hit with an $8.7 million one off charge to profit, as a result.
The company faces cost and service quality problems in Trinidad where it has its main operation due to labour shortage in that country. Looking ahead the company has 110 restaurants outlets with one in Jamaica, room for expansion may be limited in the medium term thus negating the attractiveness of the stock as an attractive investment at this stage.
At the end of the fiscal year, Prestige had equity of $231 million and borrowing of $123 million and cash funds of $57 million. The stock sells for a PE of 12 times 2014 earnings and is likely to have limited upside potential, especially with interest rates on the rise in Trinidad.
J$ revaluation continues on Monday
The Jamaican dollar had another day of moderate appreciation on Monday, against the major currencies it normally trades with. Purchases of all currencies by dealers ended at US$50,720,161 equivalent, compared with US$31,930,849, on Friday and selling of the equivalent of US$42,249,077 versus US$28,769,520 on the previous trading day.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$46,581,763 compared to US$29,615,584 on Friday. The buying rate for the US dollar fell 3 cents to $114.87 and US$40,210,226 was sold versus US$27,744,558 on Friday, the selling rate slipped 1 cent to end at $115.39. The Canadian dollar buying rate fell 9 cents to $88.84 with dealers buying C$1,949,347 and selling C$1,440,218, at an average rate that dropped 28 cents to $90.20 The rate for buying the British Pound climbed 61 cents to $169.28 for the purchase of £1,621,853, while £445,486 was sold, at an average rate of $169.96, for a fall of $1.10. At the end of trading it took J$121.42 to purchase the Euro, $1.17 less than on Friday, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$119.08 for a fall of $1.09 from Friday. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$240,631 while the equivalent of US$256,821, was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, gained 30 cents to end at 115.80, the lowest buying and the highest selling rates remained at $$94.36 and $120.91 respectively. The lowest selling rate fell $1.86, to end at $94.36. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell $1.70 to $90.30, the lowest buying rate was down 58 cents to $71.55. The highest selling rate lost $1.28 to $92.72 and the lowest selling rate dropped 70 cents to $86.20. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, dived $2.80 to $174.20. The lowest buying rate dropped $2 to $136.20, the highest selling rate rose $2.85 to $182.15 and the lowest selling rate fell $1.90 to $164.10.
