The Tribune

The BISX All-Share Index’s 3.24 per cent improvement for the 2013 first quarter provides further evidence of a timid Bahamian stock market recovery, as market capitalisation rebounded to $2.963 billion.

The Bahamas International Securities Exchange (BISX), in its report for the three months to end-March 2013, noted that its All-Share Index’s close at 1389.83 represented a 43.57, or 3.24 per cent, increase year-to-date.

By comparison, for the three month period ending March 31, 2012, the BISX All-Share Index closed at 1308.85, which represented a decrease of 56.14 or 4.11 per cent.

The BISX All-Share Index’s improvement also mirrored, for the first time in several years, the movement of major market indices.

The S&P 500 and FTSE 100 were both up 10.03 per cent and 8.71 per cent, respectively, for the 2013 first quarter, while the All-Share Index also outstripped the 2.14 per cent decline in the MSCI Emerging Market Index.

“Trading volume for the three-month period ending March 31, 2013, was 635,248 shares for a value of $3.76 million,” the BISX report said. “By comparison, trading volume for the three-month period ending March 31, 2012 was 1,148,910 shares for a value of $5.288 million.”

And it added: “For the three-month period ending March 31, 2013, the average daily trading volume was 10,241 shares, which resulted in an average daily trading value of $60,700.

“During this three month period, February 2013 saw the highest average daily trading volume and value, with 13,957 shares with a value of $82,753 trading, respectively.

“By comparison, the three-month period ended March 31, 2012, saw an average daily trading volume of 17,817 shares, which resulted in an average daily trading value of $81,602.”

When it came to market leaders, Commonwealth Bank and AML Foods - two of the most widely-distributed stocks - led the way on volume.

The two accounted for 27.8 per cent and 15.6 per cent of total BISX market volume during the 2013 first quarter. Close behind came Colina Holdings (Bahamas), trades in its shares accounting for 13.6 per cent of total volume, with Bahamas Waste and FOCOL Holdings generating 7.8 per cent and 6.5 per cent, respectively.

When it came to the total value of share trades, Commonwealth Bank led the market by far, accounting for $1.14 million or 30.3 per cent of total value that changed hands during the 2013 first quarter.