Data from the Bank of Jamaica has revealed that the local equities market recorded growth during the January to March quarter, however, it was lower than the growth recorded during the corresponding period last year.
All indices on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), with the exception of the Cross Listed Index, recorded growth during the three months ranging between 37.7 percent and 55.7 per cent.
The JSE Main Index grew by 45.4 percent in comparison to increases of 27.6 per cent and 20.8 per cent for the previous quarter and the five year annual average.
The Central Bank says the performance of the equities market reflected positive macro-economic developments including continued growth in GDP, low inflation and interest rates as well as the continued monetary policy stance for the year.
It says these developments were complemented by a new junior market listing as well as Jamaica’s strong performance under the precautionary standby agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and favourable financial performance for the top-listed market capitalization companies.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank says during the January to March quarter investments in equities continued to provide greater returns relative to foreign currency and domestic money market investments.
Equities offered an annual average return of 46.3 pe rcent while GOJ global bonds offered an average return of 5.8 per cent.
The average annualized interest rate in the 30-day private money market was 6.7 per cent at the end of March.
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