Durrant Pate/ Contributor

As 2025 draws to a close, investors ease into a more measured trading pace and overall market liquidity declined during trading last week.

Market volume fell sharply to 110.62 million units valued at J$383.61 million, representing declines of 44.3% in volume a 44.5% in value, respectively, relative to the prior week. Despite the weaker turnover, trading participation broadened. 

Activity was less concentrated with the three most actively traded stocks accounting for 46.2% of total volume, down from 69.1% in the previous week. TransJamaican Highway Limited (TJH) led trading with 24.98 million units (22.25%), followed by Kintyre Holdings Limited at 17.87 million units (15.92%) and JMMB Group with 8.93 million units (7.95%). 

Overall, market performance softened with the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) Combined Index edging down 0.23% week-over-week. Sixty-three of the 124 listed stocks that traded closed lower, compared with 45 advancers and 16 that remained unchanged. A.S. Bryden & Sons Holdings (-18.4%) and PanJam Group (-10.3%) were the most significant decliners, weighing on overall market activity. 

Six of the eight remaining JSE indices declined. The JSE Financial Index posted the steepest loss (-0.97%), largely reflecting weakness in PanJam. In contrast, the JSE Select Index stood out as the top advancer, up 2.01% week-over-week. The increase was supported by gains in TJH (+7.2%), Carreras (+2.7%) and NCB Financial Group (+3.4%). 

Notably, NCBFG made its dividend payment on December 12, while Carreras and TJH are slated to distribute dividends this week, an encouraging signal for dividend-focused investors amid otherwise subdued trading conditions.