LUCAS STOCK INDEX

In week three of April, the Lucas Stock Index (LSI) fell 1.3 percent.  The index declined on account of the sharp fall in the value of stocks traded by Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) which lost 11.1 percent of its value from week 2.   Shares for Republic Bank (RBI) edged up 1 percent between periods but those gains were wiped out by the fall in value of shares of Banks DIH (DIH) which declined by nearly 1.1 percent.  The LSI however remains in positive territory for the year, reflecting a 9.8 percent rise in value since the start of trading in 2010.  This puts the index 2.5 times higher than the returns to be obtained from the risk-free Treasuries that will mature in June 2010.