Local Equities Market
For the week ended Friday, our local stock market continued it’s slight decent, closing lower week-overweek. The Main Market Index decreased 0.56%, the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index declined by 0.61%, the JSE Junior Market Index increased by 0.96%, the JSE Combined Index decreased by 0.45%, and the JSE USD Equities Index increased by 0.08%.
The biggest winner this week is Caribbean Flavours & Fragrances Limited rising by 57.75% to close at J$18.46. The biggest loser was Main Event Entertainment Group falling by 14.31% to close at J$3.40.
Year to date, all the major equity indexes are still down by high double digits (see, the table below); and three months since March, has been relatively flat.
Market volume amounted to 133,347,483 units valued at over $1,052,592,570.70. Carreras Limited was the volume leader with 45,725,914 units (34.29%) followed by Transjamaican Highway Limited with 17,131,942 units (12.85%) and Wigton Windfarm Limited Ordinary Shares with 15,640,626 units (11.73%)
The Producer Price Index (PPI) for the mining and quarrying industry increased by 0.4 per cent for July 2020. The PPI for July was released yesterday by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica. This upward movement was mainly due to an increase of 0.5 per cent in the index for the major group ‘bauxite mining and alumina processing’. View Article
The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) in its latest International Merchandise Trade (IMT) bulletin indicated that the country’s imports for the period January to May was valued at US$1,965.2 million—29.4 per cent below the US$2,784.6 million spent in the similar period last year. View Article
This link shows how critical sectors of our economy have been impacted by COVID-19, industries which have suffered, shown resilience and those that have benefited from impact of COVID-19.
Unit Trust Performance
The Money Market Fund increased 0.22% week-on-week, the FX Bond Portfolio increased 0.02% in value, the F.X. Growth Portfolio increased by 5.77% in value, and the Real Estate Portfolio decreased by 7.11% in value. The Capital Growth Fund decreased by 0.101 % week over week.
Barita’s Collective Investment Schemes (“CIS”) offer the opportunity for investors to remain invested in the market at this delicate stage of the market cycle; moreover, there is a diversification benefit and opportunity to have a professional portfolio manager make the best-in-class professional judgements on your behalf.
The F.X. Growth Fund , which is benchmarked against the S&P 500, has been outperforming the benchmark given 11.11% year to date performance relative to S&P 500’s performance of 8.44% . This fund helps investors to gain exposure to the U.S. equities market, without taking on the risk of directly investing in a single company.
The Capital Growth Fund suffered the same fate as our local equity market but remains above the year to date performance of the combined index. This is as attractive as securities were also oversold during the March sell-off and represented an attractive entry point to be capitalized on. The FX Bond Portfolio remains an attractive fixed – income portfolio , especially taking into consideration the large retreat from emerging market (E.M.) securities. With investors seeking “safe haven” in a more developed market (D.M.) securities and essentially selling down their positions in E.M. securities , opportunities were exposed for our fund managers t o capitalize on.
| Unit Trust Fund | 28/8/2020 | 20/8/2020 | Week/Week Return | Year-to-Date Return | 1 Year Return | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Growth | 75.87 | 75.95 | -0.101% | -21.61% | -18.80% | - |
| Money Market | 14.7449 | 14.7121 | 0.22% | 2.64% | 3.16% | 1.47% |
| Income Portfolio | 100.00 | 100.00 | - | - | - | 2.49% |
| FX Bond Portfolio (US$) | 1.3062 | 1.3096 | -0.26% | -2.68% | -0.48% | 2.06% |
| Real Estate Portfolio | 5,670.81 | 6,104.62 | -7.11% | 10.22% | 18.57% | - |
| FX Growth Portfolio | 0.9952 | 0.9409 | 5.77% | 11.11% | 16.98% | - |
Conclusions
The Producer Price Index (PPI) for the mining and quarrying industry increased...
The Producer Price Index (PPI) for the mining and quarrying industry increased by 0.4 per cent for July 2020. The PPI for July was released yesterday by t h e Statistical Institute of Jamaica. This upward movement was mainly due to an increase of 0.5 per cent in the index for the influential group ‘bauxite mining and alumina processing’.
The Statistical Institute of Jamaica ( STATIN ) in its latest...
The Statistical Institute of Jamaica ( STATIN ) in its latest International Merchandise Trade (IMT) bulletin indicated that the country’s imports for the period January to May was valued at US$1,965.2 m i l l i o n — 2 9 . 4 percent below the US$2,784.6 million spent in the similar period last year.
US Stocks rallied last week on positive new about potential...
US Stocks rallied last week on positive new about potential vaccines and treatments for COVID-19. Companies that would benefit most from a full reopening of the economy, such as airlines and aircraft manufacturers enjoyed strong support during the week
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered (virtually) a long-anticipated...
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered (virtually) a long-anticipated speech at the Kansas City Fed’s Economic Policy Symposium, announcing the results of the central bank’s review of its monetary policy framework. Powell said that the Fed would adjust its inflation targeting to allow overshoots of its 2% inflation goal to offset undershoots of the target. This will effectively enable the Fed to keep rates at the current near-zero level for a more extended period without raising them to pre-empt inflation.
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