Local stocks tumbled last week with four of the nine Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) indices declining, relative to the previous week, where all nine indices advanced.

The main decliners were the JSE Cross-Listed Index and the Junior Market Index, which declined by 1.44% and 0.90%, respectively. The main contributor to the fall-off in the Cross Listed Index was a 2.29% decrease in the share price of Massy, the largest capitalisation stock in the index.

This price movement likely reflects investors’ negative sentiments toward the company‘s 5.20% reduction in earnings during the December quarter. The fall-off in earnings was attributable to some structural changes that increased net expenses and non-recurring impacts on its profit and loss.

The decline in the Junior Market Index was driven by a 4.01% decline in Fontana’s share price and a 14% decline in the share price of ISP’s. However, there was no news to support these declines as both companies reported stronger earnings by 5.33% and 156.20% respectively, in their quarterly report released last week.

Main advancers last week

On the other hand, the main advancers were the JSE All Composite Index (0.47%) and the JSE Main Market Index (0.18%). The main drivers for the increases in these indices‘ value were JMMBGL and CCC, rallying 6.91% and 5.86%, relative to the prior week.

JMMBGL Group released its Q3 financials, boasting a 274.90% increase in net profit attributable to its shareholders to the tune of $14.90 billion. This was largely driven by a one-off gain on the acquisition of Ivari Holdings, a mid-size insurance company in Canada, by its associate company Sagicor Financial Company (SFC).

The gain amounted to US$434.7 million to SFC and JMMBGL benefited from a 23.44% share given its stake in SFC. Investors appeared to have also found favour with CCC after the company announced increased shipments to Turks and Caicos and shared plans to further expand exports regionally.

Last week’s overall market activity resulted from trading in 123 stocks, of which 68 advanced, 43 declined and 12 traded firmly. Market volume amounted to 121.95 million units valued at over $471.26 million, a 13.7% increase in volume and a 20.5% increase in value relative to the week ending February 9, 2023.

Transjamaican Highway, Wigton Windfarm and QWI Investments were the week-over-week volume leaders with 34.92 million units (28.67%), 20.73 million units (16.77%), and 13.74 million units (11.12%), respectively. Collectively, these three made up more than 56% of trading activities in the market.