Trading jumps on Junior Market

Trading picked up on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Wednesday, with the volume of stocks traded rising 49 percent and the value 65 percent more than Tuesday, with 43 securities trading compared with 42 on Tuesday and ended with 14 rising, 22 declining and seven closing unchanged.
Investors traded 8,746,352 shares for $20,082,467, up from 5,882,396 units at $12,191,518 on Tuesday.
Trading averaged 203,404 shares at $467,034, compared to 140,057 shares at $290,274 on Tuesday with the month to date, averaging 274,843 units at $616,772 compared with 279,374 stock units at $626,269 on the previous day. September closed with an average of 220,239 units at $459,425.
EduFocal led trading with 3.11 million shares for 35.5 percent of total volume, followed by Dolla Financial with 1.46 million units for 16.7 percent of the day’s trade and JFP Ltd with 910,539 units for 10.4 percent market share.
At the close, the Junior Market Index skidded 27.93 points to close at 3,893.50.
The Junior Market ended trading with an average PE Ratio of 10.9, based on last traded prices in conjunction with earnings projected by ICInsider.com for the financial years ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close, Blue Power rose 23 cents and ended at $2.93 in switching ownership of 1,994 shares, CAC 2000 dropped 94 cents in closing at $4, with 2,166 units clearing the market, Cargo Handlers skidded 9 cents to close at $14.40 in an exchange of 500 stocks, Caribbean Cream shed 56 cents to end at $4.10 as investors exchanged a mere 35 stock units. EduFocal rallied 19 cents to $2.53 with shareholders swapping 3,105,393 stocks, Elite Diagnostic advanced 17 cents to $1.77, with 125,048 stock units changing hands, Express Catering gained 29 cents to close at $4.59 with traders dealing in 500 shares, Fontana popped 30 cents and ended at $11.68 with investors transferring 96,758 units. Honey Bun lost 15 cents to end at $6.31 with investors trading 1,573 shares, Indies Pharma dipped 20 cents in closing at $2.80, with just one stock crossing the market, Jetcon Corporation increased 11 cents to end at 99 cents with 2,508 units crossing the exchange, JFP Ltd climbed 13 cents and ended at $1.61 with an exchange of 910,539 stock units. Knutsford Express declined 8 cents in closing at $12.17 in trading 6,676 shares, Lasco Distributors fell 11 cents to close at $4.20 in an exchange of 34,351 units, Lasco Financial fell 10 cents to $1.90 with a transfer of 27,229 stock units, Lasco Manufacturing dropped 32 cents to $4.60 and closed after 53,000 stocks changed hands. Limners and Bards declined 21 cents in closing at $2.01, with 16,492 stock units crossing the market, Lumber Depot rallied 28 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $2.88 after exchanging 70,551 shares and Main Event skidded 45 cents and ended at $13.55 after an exchange of 21,078 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.