Friday’s activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, resulted in the prices of 6 stocks rising and 10 declining as 26 securities changed hands, ending in 3,627,030 units trading, valued at $14,333,682, in all market segments.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and only 1 with the offer that is lower.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 50.80 points to 75,807.86, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 56.80 points to close at 83,475.02 and the JSE combined index declined by 24.35 points to close at 77,631.92.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Carreras finished trading with 13,930 shares, the price rose 75 cents to $37.25, Scotia Group saw trading in 216,630 shares to close 10 cents higher, at $20.10. Scotia Investments ended trading only 300 shares to close with a gain of $1.69to $23.20, Seprod concluded trading in 70,000 units and put on $1.20 to $13.70, a new 52 weeks’ high and Supreme Ventures ended trading with 2,000 shares changing hands to close 2 cents higher at $1.92.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Cable & Wireless that ended with 80,409 shares traded at 50 cents, Grace Kennedy closing with 54,730 shares trading at $61. Jamaica Broilers finished with 8,152 shares changing hands to close at $4.10, Kingston Properties completed trading with 17,200 shares with the price closing at $7.50 and Sagicor Group ended with 2,000 shares at $9.97.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Gleaner closed at a new 52 weeks’ low as it ended trading with 2,029,366 shares trading 10 cents down at 85 cents, Jamaica Money Market Brokers closed with 8,463 ordinary shares as the price slipped 50 cents to $6.50. At the close there was little buying interest in JMMB stock with only two bids at $5.01 and $5. Investors seem to be concerned about the impact the change in repo trading in Jamaica will have on the company’s profits going forward. Mayberry Investments ended with 1,500 shares trading lower by 2 cents to $1.50, National Commercial Bank closed with 24,417 units trading as the price slipped 26 cents $18.25 and Sagicor Real Estate Fund finished with 150,000 shares trading by 15 cents lower at $6.85.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share ended with 328,800 shares trading at $2, Jamaica Public Service 5% preference share closed with 2,700 shares changing hands at $3 and Proven Investments 8% preference share traded 39,619 shares at $5.10.
Seprod’s high, Gleaner’s new low
Honey Bun new low of $1.70
Activity Trading on the Junior Market closed with only securities traded and ended with 566,814 units valued at $860,032. The JSE Junior Market Index fell 7.75 points to close at 679.54, with the price of one stock advancing and five declining.
Honey Bun closed at a new high of $6.60 on Monday.
At the close of the market, there was one stock with a bid higher than the last selling prices and none with a lower offer. The junior market is lowly regaining strength but not there yet, with five securities closing with no bids to buy. Eight securities had no shares offered for sale, a positive indicator that prices could be rising shortly.
Paramount Trading ended with 19,429 shares trading with a gain of 6 cents to $2.62, AMG Packaging closed with 580 shares trading at $2.15, Lasco Manufacturing closed with 128,435 shares changing hands to close at $1.10, Access Financial closed with 11,000 units trading, the price slipped 4 cents, to $8.96. Dolphin Cove lost 40 cents to close at $8.10 and finished trading with 3,200 shares. Honey Bun ended trading with 7,000 shares changing hands to close 30 cents lower at $1.70, for a new 52 weeks’ low, Lasco Distributors traded 291,300 units with the price slipping 5 cents $1.45 and Lasco Financial traded 105,870 shares lower by 7 cents at 98 cents.
Moderate price movement on TTSE
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange ended the week with 10 securities changing hands of which 3 advanced, 4 declined and 3 traded firm with a total of 152,046 units, valued at $9,114,659.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index rose 0.14 points to close at 1,144.88, the All T&T Index rose by just by 0.25 points to close at 1,978.54 and the Cross Listed Index increased by a mere 0.01 points to end at 40.74.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are, First Citizens Bank traded 3,250 shares to close with a gain of 2 cents at $37.02. Jamaica Money Market Brokers added 2 cents in closing at 42 cents with 2,000 units trading and West Indian Tobacco gained 11 cents to end at $121.40 trading 1,162 units to reach a new 52 weeks’ high.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are, Angostura Holdings with 7,902 shares trading, for $104,781 and closed at $13.26 down 24 cents followed by Clico Investment Fund traded 800 shares and lost 1 cent to end at $23. One Caribbean Media lost 3 cents in trading 822 units to end at $25.06 and Sagicor Financial Corporation traded 2,000 units and lost 5 cents to close at $5.95.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, Guardian Holdings that contributed 3,680 shares to trading, at $13.25. Massy Holdings with 127,120 shares changing hands for a value of $8,644,160, closed at $68 and National Commercial Bank added 3,310 shares to end at $1.16.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 4 stocks with the bid higher than their last selling prices and none with an offer that was lower.
J$ up vs euro & Pound, falters with others Thursday
The Jamaican dollar lost value against the United States and the Canadian dollar, but gained versus the euro and the Pound in Thursday foreign exchange trading in Jamaica.
Overall there was buying of the equivalent of US$42,831,449 versus US$37,454,527 on Wednesday, and selling of the equivalent of US$41,907,894 compared to US$35,556,606 on Wednesday. In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$36,830,088 compared to US$34,094,712 on Wednesday. The buying rate for the US dollar rose 10 cents to $114.04 and US$37,213,356 was sold versus US$30,789,157 on Wednesday while the selling rate rose 10 cents to $114.58. The Canadian dollar buying rate was up 58 cents to $96.44 with dealers buying C$1,634,656 and selling C$3,271,419, at an average selling rate that climbed $1.36, to $99.27. The rate for buying the British Pound rose 33 cents to $177.33 for the purchase of £2,525,435, while £873,242 was sold, the rate eased 75 cents to $179.30. At the end of trading it took J$141.82 to purchase the Euro, $1.23 less than on Wednesday, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$139.10, for a fall of $1.26. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$691,817 while the equivalent of US$493,746, was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, closed 9 cents higher at $114.89, the lowest buying rate closed 12 cents higher to $93.81. The highest selling rate gained 16 cents to $120.37 and the lowest selling rate fell $16.57 to $95.53. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar gained $1.26 to $99.88. The lowest buying rate was unchanged, at $78.19. The highest selling rate fell 50 cents to $101 and the lowest selling rate was unchanged at $94. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, rose 80 cents to $180.20. The lowest buying rate gained 79 cents to $144.75, highest selling rate put on $3.49 to $186.61 and the lowest selling rate rose $1.75 to $174.
Republic dominates TTSE with $28m
Trading on the Trinidad Stock Exchange closed with 13 securities changing hands of which 2 advanced, 4 declined and 7 traded firm with a total of 580,242 units, valued at $30,195,905 but Republic Bank was the star attraction accounting for the largest trade in monetary terms, accounting for $27.8 million of the total amount traded on Thursday.
At the close of the market, the Composite Index rose 0.77 points to close at 1,144.74, the All T&T Index gained 1.54 points to close at 1,978.29 and the Cross Listed Index remained at 40.73.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are Angostura Holdings climbed 50 cents to end at $13.50, for a 52 weeks’ high and Clico Investment Fund with 74,460 shares valued at $1,712,590 gained 1 cent to end at $23.01.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are, Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 239,457 shares changing hands, for $97,698 and closed with 1 cent decline at 40 cents. National Flour Mills added 8,404 shares at $1.15 after losing a cent followed by Republic Bank that traded 232,666 shares for $27,861,754 but lost 1 cent to end at $119.75 and Unilever Caribbean 100 Shares at $64.50 after losing 1 cent.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are, First Citizens Bank with 7,823 shares ended at $37, Grace Kennedy traded 2,620 units at $3.75, Guardian Holdings contributed 10,387 shares with a value of $137,629, to end at $13.25. Guardian Media with 957 shares, closed at $19.77, Massy Holdings traded 35 shares at $68, National Enterprises had only 10 shares changing hands at $17.49 and 1,000 L.J. Williams B shares traded at 90 cents.
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 2 stocks with offers that were lower.
Kingston Properties up 88% in December
The year-end rally, continued on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Thursday, as Kingston Properties hits a new high having gained 87.5 percent for the December. Trading in the overall market resulted in the prices of 10 stocks rising and only 3 declining as 25 securities changed hands, ending in 3,028,876 units trading, valued at $10,239,236, in all market segments.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator showed 10 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and only 1 stock with the offer lower a clear sign of rising prices ahead.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained 196.62 points to 75,757.06, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index rose 219.83 points to close at 83,418.22 and the JSE combined index climbed 261.34 points to close at 77,656.27.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Cable & Wireless with 1,710,367 shares changing hands, to close 3 cents higher, at 50 cents. Carreras ended with 3,452 shares and gained 30 cents to $36.50, Grace Kennedy closed trading with 1,700 shares changing hands with a 50 cents rise, to $61. Hardware & Lumber traded 3,000 shares with the price rising 49 cents to $8. Kingston Properties closed at a new all-time high of$7.50, with a 60 cents rise with 403,000 units trading. National Commercial Bank finished with only 100 shares changing hands to close 1 cent up to $18.51, Salada Foods concluded trading with 268,045 shares, 19 cents higher at $8 and Seprod ended trading with 8,600 shares changing hands to close with a 25 cents gain at $12.50.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Gleaner trading just 879 units to close at 95 cents. Jamaica Broilers ended trading with 39,136 units at $4.10, Jamaica Money Market Brokers closed with 1,640 ordinary shares and finished trading at $7, Jamaica Producers ended with 6,100 shares trading, at $17.50, Mayberry Investments ended with 12,883 shares changing hands at $1.52 and Proven Investments closed with 12,385 shares at 19 US cents.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Sagicor Group with 80,500 shares trading lost 3 cents to end at $9.97 and 92,753 Scotia Group shares changed hands 1 cent lower at $20.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share finished with 903 shares trading at $2 and Proven Investments 8% preference share finished with 150 units to close trading at $5.50.
Low activity on junior market
The junior market has been slowly rebuilding since a 2014 low reached in June
Blue Power closed with 910 units with a 14 cents gain to $6.30, followed by Lasco Distributors finishing trading with just 1,600 units to close trading with an increase of 9 cents at $1.50. AMG Packaging closed trading with 51,578 shares changing hands at $2.15, General Accident had 220,595 shares trading at $1.75 followed by Honey Bun with a mere 300 shares at $2, Lasco Financial ended trading with 3,300 units at $1.05 and Lasco Manufacturing traded 105,000 shares and lost cents 2 to end at $1.10.
J$ falls vs euro, US & Pound Wednesday
The Jamaican dollar lost value against the United States dollar, the euro and the Pound but gained on the Canadian dollar on Wednesday.
Overall there was buying of the equivalent of US$37,454,527 versus US$43,503,554 on Tuesday, and selling of the equivalent of US$35,556,606 compared to US$46,130,818 on Tuesday. In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$34,094,712 compared to US$38,358,526 on Tuesday. The buying rate for the US dollar rose 6 cents to $113.94 and US$30,789,157 was sold versus US$42,437,376 on Tuesday. The selling rate rose 7 cents to $114.48. The Canadian dollar buying rate fell 44 cents to $95.86 with dealers buying C$1,444,094 and selling C$1,029,110, at an average selling rate that declined 91 cents, to $97.91. The rate for buying the British Pound rose 13 cents to $177 for the purchase of £1,284,128, while £1,858,576 was sold, the rate climbed 88 cents to $180.05. At the end of trading it took J$143.12 to purchase the Euro, $1.14 more than on Tuesday, according to data from Bank of Jamaica, while dealers purchased the European common currency at J$140.32, for an increase of $1.26. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$150,076 while the equivalent of US$964,190, was sold.
Highs & Lows| The highest buying rate for the US dollar, closed 5 cents higher at $114.80, the lowest buying rate was unchanged at $93.69. The highest selling rate gained 16 cents to $120.21 and the lowest selling rate rose 60 cents to $112.10. The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar was unchanged at $98.62. The lowest buying rate closed 33 cents lower, at $78.19. The highest selling rate fell $1 to $101.50 and the lowest selling rate moved down 60 cents to $94. The highest buying rate for the British Pound, dipped $1.10 to $179.40. The lowest buying rate was unchanged at $143.96, highest selling rate lost $2.47 to $183.12 the lowest selling rate lost $1.20 to $172.25.
Strong price gains ahead on JSE
Activity on the Jamaica Stock Exchange was low, resulting in the prices of 5 stocks rising and 7 declining as 18 securities changed hands, ending in 3,633,602 units trading, valued at $6,595,479, in all market segments.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator was reflecting a very strong signal, showing 13 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and only 1 stock with the offer lower.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index lost 552.75 points to 75,560.44, the JSE All Jamaican Composite index fell 618.05 points to close at 83,198.39 and the JSE combined index declined by 406.69 points to close at 77,394.93.
Gains| Stocks gaining with last traded prices, at the end of trading in the main market are, Caribbean Cement ended trading with 1,650 shares 10 cents higher to $2.50, Kingston Properties reached a new 52 weeks’ high in trading 8,300 shares to close 92 cents up at $6.90, at the close there was a bid to buy 191,700 units at $6.90 and an order to purchase 914,000 units at $6. Mayberry Investments ended trading with 187,117 units 7 cent higher to $1.52.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in the last traded prices are, Jamaica Money Market Brokers ending trading with 3,002 ordinary shares at $7. Jamaica Producers closed trading with 5,718 shares at $17.50, Kingston Wharves finished with 65,667 units at $6 and Pan Jamaican Investment ended trading with 34,067 shares changing hands at $60.
Declines| The last traded prices of stocks with losses at the end of trading in the main market are, Cable & Wireless closing with 2,927,292 units trading with the price slipping 3 cents, to 47 cents. Carreras finished with 4,936 shares trading lower by $1.05 at $36.20. Grace Kennedy ended trading with 3,098 shares changing hands to close down $2.50, at $60.50, Sagicor Group closed with 9,000 shares, 9 cents lower at $10, Salada Foods had 131,000 units trading, with the price slipping 19 cents to $7.81 and Scotia Group traded 26,480 shares and the price closed lower by 49 cents to $20.01.
Demand up for Lasco Manufacturing
Lasco Manufacturing new bottling line at their new factory at White Marl, St Catherine
The junior market closed with only 5 securities traded and ended with 226,275 units valued at $273,781. The JSE Junior Market Index rose 12.09 points to close at 679.08, with the price 2 stocks advancing and 1 falling. The junior market sentiment is improving with 5 securities closing with no bids to buy compared to 11 a few weeks ago. There were 8 securities that had no stocks being offered for sale while at the close, there were 4 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and none with lower offers.
The stocks trading are, Lasco Distributors trading 51,000 shares with the price rising 1 cent to $1.41, Lasco Manufacturing concluded trading with 120,875 units and put on 12 cents to $1.12. Consolidated Bakeries ended with 10,000 shares at 82 cents, Lasco Financial ended with 24,400 shares at $1.05 and General Accident ended with 20,000 shares trading 5 cents lower to $1.75.
