Market rallied last week with most indices advancing as trading activity surged

Durrant Pate/Contributor

Last week’s strong performance capped a positive first nine months of 2026 for the Jamaican stock market

 For the period, the  Combined Index gained 19.0% while six of the other eight indices climbed higher. The gains were driven primarily by significant increases in large-cap stocks, including West Indies Petroleum Terminal (WIPT), TransJamaican Highway (TJH), NCB Financial Group (NCBFG) and Carreras, which rose 604.6%, 116.7%, 80.0% and 56.7%, respectively.

However, small-cap companies on the Junior Market continued to underperform, with three in four recording lower share prices and more than half reporting weaker year-to-date earnings. Disruption from Melissa, delayed tourism recovery and weaker earnings conversion, as many companies invested for future growth, were key contributors to the underperformance.

Stock market rallied last week

The stock market rallied last week with most indices advancing and trading activity surging. However, market breadth narrowed, as fewer stocks participated in the gains and the number of advancers declined from 80 to 65. 

Nonetheless, trading volume increased 12- fold to 2.13 billion units, while market value rose 16-fold to J$18.45 billion. The surge in activity largely reflected a block trade in WIPT of 1.81 billion units that changed hands on September 30, 2026.

The transaction accounted for 84.8% of the week’s trading volume, although no related news was identified. Elite Diagnostic Limited with 140.36 million units (6.57%), and Wigton Energy with 28.17 million units (1.32%), rounded out the top three volume leaders.

Meanwhile, six of the nine indices appreciated week-over-week.

Notably, the combined Index rose 3.5%, led by Scotia Group Jamaica (+21.6%) and Barita Investments (+25.9%).

Sagicor’s advance followed the September 29 announcement that Scotiabank Caribbean Holdings increased the acquisition price for its shares buy-back offer by 22.0% to $75.00 per share.  Barita’s gain was likely supported by the planned $2.60 interim dividend per share, 8.7% above the $2.39 dividend paid in October 2025.

Gains in these two stocks also helped make the Financial Index (+7.5%) and All Jamaican Composite Index (+4.5%) the week’s strongest performers. The USD Index was the largest decliner, falling 1.65%. 

TJH’s USD shares declined 3.6%, suggesting that investors continued to take profits after its year-to-date gain peaked at 180.97% on August 5, 2026.