Trading jumps on the Jamaica Stock Exchange

Activity picked up sharply in trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Friday ended with the number and the value of stocks changing hands jumping sharply over the previous day, resulting in prices of 36 shares rising and 27 declining with all markets falling at the close, with the Main Market losing a few thousand points while the Junior and JSE USD market closed marginally lower than on Thursday.
At the close of trading, the JSE Combined Market Index dropped 2,619.12 points to 325,755.07, the All Jamaican Composite Index dived 4,210.54 points to 349,222.49, the JSE Main Index shed 2,656.40 points to close at 313,276.45. The Junior Market Index declined 7.49 points to close at 3,653.40 and the JSE USD Market Index slipped 0.75 points to conclude trading at 218.37.
At the close of trading, 25,127,820 shares were exchanged in all three markets, up sharply from 12,816,438 units on Thursday, with the value of stocks traded on the Junior and Main markets amounted to $220.67 million, well above the $58.16 million on the previous trading day and the JSE USD market closed with an exchange of 181,904 shares for US$17,375 compared to 63,388 units at US$42,622 on Thursday.
In Main Market activity, Jamaica Producers led trading with 6.64 million shares followed by Sagicor Select Financial Fund with 4.58 million units and Transjamaican Highway with 3.25 million stocks.
In Junior Market trading, the lifting of suspension in trading of EduFocal resulted in the stock being the leading trade d stock with 1.65 million shares followed by the other stock that returned to trading after suspension, iCreate with 885,027 stocks and newly listed Omni Industries with 842,369 units.
In the preference segment, there was no stock trading with notable price change.
The market’s PE ratio, the most popular measure used to determine the value of stocks, ended at 20.5 on 2023-24 earnings and 13 times those for 2024-25 at the close of trading. ICInsider.com PE ratio chart and the more detailed daily charts provide investors with regularly updated information to help decision-making.
The PE ratio chart covers all ordinary shares on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, grouped by industry, allowing for easy comparisons within a sector and the overall market. The EPS & PE ratios are based on 2023 and 2024 actual or projected earnings, excluding major one off items.
Pertinent information is required to navigate numerous investment options successfully in the stock market. The ICInsider.com PE ratio chart and the more detailed daily report charts provide investors with regularly updated information to help decision-making.
The chart should be used in making rational decisions when investing in stocks close to the average for the sector, not going too far from it unless there are compelling reasons to do so. This approach helps to remove emotions from investment decisions and place them on fundamentals while at the same time not being too far from the majority of investors. Investors who buy when the price of a stock is close to the average will find that they are not inclined to overpay for a stock.
The net asset value of each company is reported as a guide for investors to quickly assess the value of stocks based on this measure. The chart also shows daily changes in stock prices and the percentage year to date price movement based on the last traded prices.
Dividends paid or payable and yields for each company are shown in the Main and Junior Markets’ daily report charts, along with the closing volume of the highest bid and the lowest offer for each company.