In Wednesday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange the prices of only 4 stocks rose while 6 declined as 19 securities trading resulting in a mere 733,340 shares changing hands valued at only $8,925,530. The main market Indices rose and the IC Indicator was more positive than on Tuesday and may be signalling the usual summer rally following what traditionally tends to be a soft market after results are in for the First quarter of each year.
Main Market|The JSE Market Index rose by 741.85 points to 70,240.98 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index climbed 829.52 points to close at 77,250.38.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market are Grace Kennedy with 76,220 shares changing hands with the price closing with a gain of 5 cents to $54, National Commercial Bank with 21,595 units with a 50 cents gain to close at $19 and Sagicor Group with 176,980 shares to close up by 20 cents to close at $9.
Firm| There were only stocks in the main market to close without a change in price are Jamaica Producers with 15,187 shares to close at $15.60, traded, Mayberry Investments with 11,492 units and closed at $1.45, Pan Jamaican Investment 4,348 closed at $48.01 and Scotia Group closed at $19 with 22,069 shares.
Declines| The number of stocks that declined in the main market are Barita Investments with 3,000 lost a cent to end at $2.33, Carreras with 2,500 units lost 5 cents to close at $33.95, Jamaica Broilers 75,873 shares resulted in 13 cents decline to end at $4.57 and Sagicor Real Estate Fund closed with 21,156 units changing hands as the price lost 8 cents to end at $6.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers7.50% preference share traded only 434 units to close at $2, Proven Investments 8% preference share traded 30,000 units to close at $5 and Access Financial 9% Unsecured Short Term Notes traded 5,000 units at $101 each. Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 175,017 units at a cent lower to end at $3.02.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index inched up by 1.61 points to close at 709.12 as only stocks of 4 companies traded with one advancing and one declining.
Gains| Only Lasco Distributors gained at the end of trading in the junior market with 44,402 units to close with a 2 cents gain at $1.20.
Firm Trades| Stocks in the junior market stocks that traded to close at the same price as the trading day before are Dolphin Cove with 684 shares to close $8.51 and Lasco Financial with 2,750 shares at $1.
Declines| The only stock declining in the junior market at the end of trading is Jamaican Teas with 44,633 shares to close with a 5 cents loss at $3.25.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 9 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 5 stocks with offers that were lower.
Market Advances with moderate trading
First Citizens drops $1.50
Trading on the Trinidad stock market saw First Citizens dropping back to $35 as 13 securities traded of which 4 advanced 1 declined and 8 traded firm with 244,796 stocks changing hands with a value of $2,800,434. The Composite Index lost 4.10 points to close at 1,174.17, the All T&T Index rose fell by just 9.22 points to close at 2,012.01 and the Cross Listed Index increased by a mere 0.14 points to end at 44.07.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are Clico Investment Fund with 36,100 shares valued at $777,815.44 advanced by 5 cents to end at $21.55, National Commercial Bank gained 2 cents to close at $1.08 with 69,456 shares changing hands for a value of $74,912, National Enterprises with 1,555 shares closed at $18.76 for a cent increase, Neal & Massy 845 resulted in a 2 cents rise to $68.92.
Declines| First Citizens Bank with a volume of 37,582 shares traded for $1,317,168 was the only stock that fell on Wednesday as the price lost $1.50 to close at $35.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are Angostura Holdings closed at $12.75 with 11,340 shares changing hands, Guardian Holdings 14,948 shares changing hands for a value of $213,756 to end at $14.30, Guardian Media 6,574 valued at $129,837 to close at $19.75, Jamaica Money Market Brokers contributed 35,000 shares with a value of $15,750 and closed at 45 cents while National Flour Mills added 30,576 shares valued at $30,616 and closed at $1, Prestige Holdings with 300 shares to close at $9.40, Republic Bank traded only 20 units to close at $121 and Sagicor Financial With 500 and closed at $6.69.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator showed an indecisive market with no clear direction with 2 stocks with bids higher than the last selling price and 2 stocks with offers that were lower.
More Insider trades
A senior manager of Scotia Group Jamaica acquired 9,284 of he group's shares under the group’s Employee Share Ownership Plan on February 19, 2014 and an Executive of Sagicor Group purchased 400,000 shares under the Executive Long Term Incentive Scheme on June 16, the companies informed the Jamaica Stock Exchange recently.
Trinidad’s Neal & Massy Holdings informed the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange that on June 6, 2014 a Director sold 13,563 of the company’s shares.
J$ drops against US dollar
The local dollar slipped against the US on Tuesday but was up against the Canadian dollar and mixed versus the Pound sterling, as inflows were once more higher than outflows, with the equivalent of US$32,499,886 being bought, to US$30,817,870 sold. On Monday dealers bought the equivalent of US$44,472,177 to $36,939,559 sold. In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$29,563,621 compared to US$38,400,461 on Monday as the buying rate for the US dollar rose 20 cents to $111.44 and sold US$28,277,012 versus US$33,754,880 on Monday with the rate closing up 8 cents at $111.93.
The Canadian dollar buying rate was down by 88 cents to $101.60 with dealers buying C$789,494 and selling C$497,142 as the rate fell 41 cents to end at $103.63.
The Pound closed at $187.16, for the purchase of £907,493, the rate fell 94 cents, while £801,571 was sold, with the rate rising 43 cents to $189.98. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of $692,375 while selling accounted for the equivalent of just $720,056.
Highs & Lows| The highest rate for buying the US dollar gained 5 cents to $112.40, the lowest buying rate remained unchanged at $90.81 but the highest selling rate was up 27 cents to $116.63 and the lowest was up 21 cents to $91.02.
The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar fell 20 cents to $104.25, the lowest buying rate moved up 50 cents to $82.50, the highest selling rate rose by 15 cents to $106.15 and lowest selling rate gained 60 cents to $99.40.
The highest buying rate for the Pound lost 40 cents to $190.20 while the lowest buying rate was unchanged at $151.89. The highest selling rate increased by 32 cents to $196.13 and the lowest selling rate was up 30 cents to $183.30.
Pick up in market activity
Trading picked up over Mondays levels in Tuesday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange with the prices of 7 stocks rising and 8 declined as 30 securities changed hands resulting in 6,769,006 shares trading valued at $93,106,961.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index inching up by 68.50 points to 69,499.13 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index moved up 76.59 points to close at 76,420.86
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market are Caribbean Cement trading of 10,000 shares to close with a gain of 20 cents at $2.95, Carreras gained 50 cents to close at $34 with 1,100 units changing hands, Kingston Wharves with 216,216 shares as the price gained 10 cents to close at $5, National Commercial Bank with 173,550 shares to close with a gain of $1.20 at $18.50 and
Scotia Group with 428,791 units to close with a gain of 50 cents to end at $19.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in price at the end of trading are Berger Paints with 6,161 units to close at $1.66, Cable & Wireless 856,277 shares to close at 30 cents, Desnoes & Geddes with 2,500 units to close at $4.50, Gleaner 11,000 shares in closing at $1.10, Jamaica Producers with only 2,462 units to close at $15.60, Mayberry Investments 22,846 units to close at $1.45, prior to the close the stock hit a new 52 weeks intraday low of $1.35, Radio Jamaica 9,549 units to close at $1.29, Scotia Investments with 15,950 units to close at $21.50 and Supreme Ventures 2,500 units traded to close at $1.90.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share traded 48,750 units to close at$2 and the Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share 558,109 units to close at $3.03.
Declines| The number of stocks that declined in the main market are Grace Kennedy with 480,829 shares valued at $25,940,725 traded to close down 5 cents at $53.95, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 62,200 units lost a cent to end at $6.65, Proven Investments traded 2,470,874 shares lost 2 US cents to close at 16 us cents, Sagicor Group with 776,336 shares lost 8 cents to end at $8.80 and Salada Foods with 1,000 shares lost 20 cents to end at $7.80.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 7.03 points to close at 707.51 as 9 stocks traded with 2 advancing and 3 declining.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the junior market are Dolphin Cove with 700 units to close a gain of a cent to end at $8.51 and Jamaican Teas with just 1,383 units as the price inched up by 5 cents to end at $3.30.
Firm Trades| The stocks in the junior market stocks that traded to close at the same price as the day before are Access Financial with 6,500 units to close at $13.50, Blue Power 1,900 units to close at $9.01
Caribbean Producers with 231,000 units to close at $2.65 and Consolidated Bakeries 9,910 units to close at 80 cents.
Declines| Stocks declining in the junior market at the end of trading are with Lasco Distributors trading 7,800 shares to close 2 cents down to $1.18, Lasco Financial 153,913 shares with the price falling 7 cents to close at $1 and Lasco Manufacturing with 198,900 shares close with a 3 cents fall to $1.07.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 3 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 4 stocks with offers that were lower.
Trading picks up with $7m
Trading levels on the Trinidad stock market picked up on Tuesday with more volume and valued traded than on Monday. 11 securities changed hands of which only 1 advanced 3 declined and 7 traded firm with 263,353 stocks changing hands with a value of $7,028,775. The Composite Index lost0.08 points to close at 1,178.27, the All T&T Index fell by just 0.16 points to close at 2,021.23 and the Cross Listed Index remained at 43.93
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are Neal & Massy with 17,390 shares climbed by 2 cents to end the day at $68.90.
Declines| The stocks declining at the end of trading are Clico Investment Fund traded 59,760 shares valued at $1,284,959 but declined by 10 cents to end at $21.50, Readymix fell to $19.33 down by 3 cents, a new 52 weeks low as 300 units changed hands and Scotiabank dropped to a new 52 weeks low by shedding 3 cents to end at $69.35 while 1,000 shares changed hands.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading are Angostura Holdings traded with 87,926 shares changing hands for a value of $1,120,432 as the stock closed at $12.75, Flavorite Foods 1,000 units to close at $6.70, Guardian Holdings with a volume of 44,801 shares traded with a value of $640,654 closed at $14.30, Point Lisas Industrial Port Development with 2,150 units to close at $4.15, Prestige Holdings contributed 28,614 shares with a value of $268,971 to end at $9.40 while Republic Bank added 19,646 shares valued at $2,377,166 to end at $121 and Unilever Caribbean traded 766 shares to close at $62.20.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and no stock closed with the offer that was lower.
Republic Bank seeks dismissal of court action
Republic Bank is seeking dismissal of court action brought against it by some disgruntled shareholders of the bank to prevent it from proceeding with a mandatory offer to acquire the majority of the banks shares.
The Securities and Exchange Commission, has been named as a co-defendant in proceedings brought on behalf of HFC Bank in the High Court of Ghana. These proceedings seek an injunction to prevent Republic Bank from continuing the process for a mandatory offer to all shareholders of HFC Bank Ghana to acquire the majority of the shares under the securities regulations having acquired 40 percent of the Bank in 2013.
In a release to the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on which the bank’s shares are listed, Republic stated that on June 16, in a hearing of Republic Bank’s application to dismiss the action, before his Lordship Justice Koomson at Commercial Court B, Accra, Ghana, the matter was adjourned for parties to file written submissions and set down for ruling on Monday, June 23.
Republic Bank said it is disappointed that these legal proceedings have been resorted to, as they have delayed the mandatory takeover process. Republic Bank is confident, however, that the matter will be successfully resolved, thereby allowing shareholders to exercise their rights to consider whether to sell their shares or not.
Dividend stable at Blue Power
Blue Power Group has declared a dividend of 15 cents per share payable on August 15, the record date is set for July 31, 2014 and the X dividend date July 29, 2014. The company last paid a dividend of 15 cents per share on August 16, last year. A dividend of 10.5 cents per share was paid on September 6, 2012.
The company reported slightly lower profits in 2014 versus last year, with profit falling to $93 million compared to $104 million in 2013. Earnings per stock unit moved down from $1.84 to $1.65.
J$ stable against US dollar
The local dollar was stable against the US on Monday but slipped against the Canadian dollar and was mixed versus the Pound sterling, as inflows were once more higher than outflows, with the equivalent of US$44,472,177 being bought, to US$36,939,559 sold. On Friday dealers bought the equivalent of US$34,329,485 to $37,187,229 sold.
In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$38,400,461 compared to US$32,014,992 on Friday as the buying rate for the US dollar fell 8 cents to $111.24 and sold US$33,754,880 versus US$31,747,005 on Friday with the rate closing unchanged at $111.86.
The Canadian dollar buying rate was unchanged at $102.48 with dealers buying C$2,501,983 and selling C$1,535,408 as the rate rose 53 cents to end at $104.05.
The Pound closed at $188.10, for the purchase of £1,918,159, the rate rose 19 cents, while £920,449 was sold, with the rate dipping 68 cents to $189.56. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$523,239 while selling accounted for the equivalent of just $196,611.
Highs & Lows|The highest rate for buying the US dollar gained 15 cents to $112.35, the lowest buying rate remained unchanged at $90.81 and so is the case with the highest selling rate at $116.36 and the lowest at $90.80.The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar increased by 45 cents to $104.45, the lowest buying rate moved up 41 cents to $82, the highest selling rate rose by 34 cents to $106 and lowest selling rate gained 50 cents to $98.80.
The highest buying rate for the Pound rose 30 cents to $190.60 while the lowest buying rate fell by 12 cents to $151.89. The highest selling rate increased by $1.81 to $195.81 and the lowest selling rate was down 15 cents to $183.
Declines continue to dominate
Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Monday saw the prices of only 3 stocks rose and 8 declined as 20 securities changing hands resulting in 1,417,573 shares trading valued at $12,223,034 as the market continues to remain soft.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index fell by 310.45 points to 69,430.63 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index lost 347.13 points to close at 76,344.27.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market are Caribbean Cement with only 747 shares to close with a gain of 50 cents at $2.75, Jamaica Broilers with 100 units gained 13 cents to close at $4.70 and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 4,100 shares to close with a gain of a cent at$6.66.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in price are Barita Investments with 1,780 shares closing at $2.34, Carreras with 5,000 units and closed at $33.50, Grace Kennedy with 11,646 units as the price closed at $54, Mayberry Investments 58,414 shares and closed at $1.45, Pan Jamaican Investment with a mere 377 shares at $48.01 and Proven Investments with 73,960 ordinary shares as the price closed at 18 US cents.
Declines| The number of stocks declining in the main market are Jamaica Producers with 15,287 shares as the price dropped $1.40 to end at $15.60, a new 52 weeks low, Kingston Wharves 135,850 shares while losing 10 cents to close at $4.90, a new 52 weeks low, National Commercial Bank only 10,100 units to close with a loss of $1.20 at $17.30, Sagicor Group with 395,701 shares changing hands for a 2 cent decline to $8.88 and Scotia Group with 76,490 shares as the price slipped by 51 cents to close at $18.50.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded with 370,000 units changing hands for a 2 cents decline to end at $3.03 and Jamaica Teas debenture note traded 10,000 units at par of $100.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 4.81 points to close at 714.54 as only 4 stocks traded with none advancing and 2 declining.
Gains| In a low trading market there were no stock recording gain at the end of trading in the junior market.
Firm Trades| Stocks in the junior market stocks that traded to close at the same price as the day before are Access Financial 107,600 shares to close at $13.50 and Lasco Distributors with 127,598 units and closed at $1.20.
Declines| Stocks declining in the junior market at the end of trading are Lasco Manufacturing with 10,000 shares changing hands for a 2 cents decline to close at $1.10 and Lasco Financial with 12,823 shares closed 8 cents lower at $1.07
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 9 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 5 stocks with offers that were lower.
