Durrant Pate/Contributor

The overall bearish sentiment seen in the Jamaican stock market since the start of 2025 persisted last week, with eight of the nine market indices giving up ground.

The JSE Cross-listed Index (1.44 per cent) was the only one closing in positive territory. Despite some stocks posting double-digit gains, the overall trend last week was a decline with this downward trend persisting since the beginning of 2025.

The main decliners last week were Jamaica Stock Exchange USD Equities and junior market indices, which declined by 4.6 per cent and 2.3 per cent, respectively. The decline in the JSE USD Equities Index was primarily driven by a 17.3 per cent drop in the share price of Productive Business Solutions USD. 

While there was no news to justify this decline, however, PBS USD is a thinly traded stock, making it susceptible to significant price fluctuations even with small trading volumes. As for the JSE Junior Market Index, the largest contributors to the 2.3 per cent decline were ISP Finance Service, Tropical Battery and Dolphin Cove, which fell by 32.1 per cent, 17.0 per cent, and 7.5 per cent, respectively. 

There was no news to explain these declines but ISP Finance announced during the week that it is actively seeking to expand its business through mergers and acquisitions, following the acquisition of a J$1.2 billion portfolio earlier this year. On the other hand, the JSE Cross Listed Index gained 1.44 per cent, driven by a 1.7 per cent increase in the share price of its heaviest-weighted stock, Massy. 

Last week, Massy Group inked US$150 million in an unsecured, long-term security package with IDB Invest to support its expansion, including modernising its logistics and distribution operations with a focus on automation.

Some 124 stocks traded, with 49 advancing, 66 declining, and eight remaining unchanged.

This trend closely mirrored the performance of the previous week, where 124 stocks traded, with 44 advancing, 68 declining, and 12 trading firm, making it the third consecutive week where the Combined Index declined. 

The volume leaders represented over 53 per cent of total traded volumes, with Indies Pharma ordinary shares making up 45,089,981 units (30.33 per cent), TransJamaican Highway accounting for 18,118,259 units (12.19 per cent), and Wigton Energy contributing 16,334,419 units (10.99 per cent).