Trading drops on the JSE Junior Market

Rising and falling stocks shared the spotlight on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Friday, following a 52 percent decline in the volume of stocks traded after the value plunged 67 percent compared with Thursday trading as trading ended with 41 securities changing hands down from 44 on Thursday and ended with 17 rising, 18 declining and five closing unchanged and ending with the Junior Market Index popping 8.65 points to close at 3,828.75 after two stocks closed on 52 weeks’ lows.
Investors traded 1,727,434 shares for $4,084,376 down from 3,568,081 units at $12,531,088 on Thursday.
Trading averaged 43,816 shares with an average value of $102,109, down from 87,026 stock units at $305,636 on Thursday, with the month to date, averaging 105,067 units at $265,112 compared with 113,573 stock units at $287,518 on the previous day, well down from October with an average of 361,392 units at $863,984.
Indies Pharma was the leading traded stock with 342,085 units accounting for 19.8 percent of total volume and was followed by One On One Educational Services, with 161,988 units for 9.38 percent of the day’s trade and Spur Tree Spies, 140,115 units for 8.1 percent market share.
The Junior Market ended trading with an average PE Ratio of 11.4, based on last traded prices in conjunction with earnings projected by ICInsider.com for the financial years ending around August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows one stock ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
At the close, AMG Packaging popped 49 cents to close at $2.44, with 640 stocks changing hands, Consolidated Bakeries rallied 20 cents to $2.26 with investors dealing in 435 shares, Derrimon Trading rose 6 cents to $1.98 after an exchange of 18,906 stock units. Dolla Financial dropped 8 cents to close at $2.40 with a transfer of 38,203 units, Edufocal slipped 12 cents to end at $2.10 with stakeholders exchanging 43,190 stocks, Everything Fresh lost 13 cents in closing at $1.56 after 54,408 shares were traded. Express Catering popped 65 cents in closing at $4.40, as 11 shares passed through the market, Indies Pharma ended trading 342,085 shares as the price fell 35 cents to $2.75, ISP Finance rallied $2.80 to close at $30.80, with 16 units crossing the market. KLE Group climbed 35 cents to close at $1.45 with an exchange of 3,382 shares, Knutsford Express gained 9 cents to end at $12.29 with an exchange of 10 stocks, Lasco Distributors shed 21 cents to close at $4.34 with 6,272 stocks clearing the market. Lumber Depot climbed 13 cents to $2.63 after an exchange of 122,625 stock units, MailPac fell 15 cents to $2.02 after 117,076 shares were exchanged by investors, MFS Capital saw trading in 74,688 shares but the stock fell 15 cents to close at $2. Regency Petroleum gained 7 cents in closing at $2.25 after investors exchanged 87,412 shares, Spur Tree Spices had 140,115 shares being traded by investors the price climbing 17 cents to close at $2.20 and Stationery and Office Supplies added 10 cents and ended at $1.72 with investors transferring just 2,698 shares.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.