Durrant Pate/Contributor

Investor interest shifted last week to lower-priced stocks, as trading activity climbed, but the value of shares traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) contracted.

Market volume totalled 263.64 million units, a whopping 180.4 per cent week-over-week increase, while the value of units traded declined by 32.5 per cent to J$834.08 million. Of the 128 stocks that traded, 71 advanced, 43 declined, and 14 held firm. 

Trading activity was more concentrated, with the top three volume leaders accounting for 49.2 per cent of total market volume, up from 34.4 per cent in the previous week. The volume leaders were Radio Jamaica with 61.71 million units (23.06 per cent), R.A. Williams Distributors Limited with 45.75 million units (17.09 per cent) and TransJamaican Highway (TJH) with 24.75 million units (9.07 per cent). 

The rise in trading activity lifted stock prices for a second consecutive week, as eight of nine indices appreciated. JSE Combined Index, which measures the performance of all the main- and junior market-listed companies, rose by 1.25 per cent. 

Cigarette distributor Carreras (+8.7 per cent) was the main contributor, as the market responded positively to its $0.40 per share dividend declaration payable to shareholders as at March 13. 

Despite being lower than the $0.54 per share declared the same time last year, it was a timely declaration, given the planned increase in “sin taxes” on cigarettes by the Government of Jamaica. Among the remaining indices, the JSE Select Index (+3.2 per cent) was the top advancer, followed by the JSE Financial Index (+2.2 per cent). 

The JSE Select was also driven by Carreras’ appreciation, while the financial index was primarily moved by Pan Jamaica Group (+6.2 per cent) and Sagicor Group Jamaica (+4.2 per cent). PJAM declared its fourth interim dividend of $0.275 per share payable to shareholders on record on March 12, and this likely increased demand for its shares. 

Meanwhile, in the absence of any major news, SJ’s movement was likely a result of general market volatility. The lone decliner was the JSE USD Equities Index (-0.1 per cent), fuelled by TJHUSD (-0.4 per cent). Similarly, there was no company-specific news to support the downward trend.