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Amman Stock Exchange

AMMAN -- The index of the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) dropped last week driven by declining prices of leading stocks in banking and diversified financial services sectors. The index finished the week at 5,682.1 points, down by 0.63 per cent.

Market capitalisation fell to JD22.1 billion, a 0.54 per cent drop for the week.

Indices of all sectors recorded losses. The diversified financial services, banking, and services sectors were the biggest losers as sector indices dropped by 1.3 per cent, 1.13 per cent and 0.92 cent respectively by the end of the week.

As for trading activity, 75.84 million shares exchanged hands, while the average daily trading value increased by 1.48 per cent to JD33.4 million. Overall, decliners outnumbered advancers as 106 companies out of 184 declined, while 62 advanced.

In terms of value traded by sector, the diversified financial services sector came in first place accounting for 25 per cent of the total value traded followed by the real estate sector with 23.4 per cent and then the industrial sector which accounted for 17.5 per cent of the value traded last week.

The most actively traded shares last week were El Zay Ready Wear Manufacturing, Jordan Loan Guarantee Corporation and Al Sanabel International Co. with a combined value traded of JD19.25 million accounting for 11.5 per cent of the week's total value traded.

Several block deals were executed last week, the most significant of which were deals on shares of the Housing Bank, Tameer Jordan, and Middle East Complex with transaction values of JD314.05 million, JD2.5 million and JD1.62 million respectively.

The Ministry of Finance announced that public debt reached JD7,409.6 million at the end of June 2007 compared to JD7,349.6 million a year earlier, increasing by JD60 million or 0.82 per cent.

The Central Bank of Jordan announced a 2 per cent increase in money supply (M2) to JD14.8 billion during June 2007 compared to the end of May. As for the first half of 2007, money supply (M2) recorded an increase of JD684.6 million, higher by 4.9 per cent from the end of 2006.

The Japanese government will provide Jordan with a $5.5 million (JY668 billion) grant as per an exchange of notes at the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation.

Qatar National Bank bought Qatar Investment Authority 's 20.6 per cent stake in the Housing Bank for Trade and Finance . The Qatari bank's acquisition of shares, valued at $442 million, will open the chance for it to access opportunities provided by Jordan's growing economy. The share price of the Housing Bank closed unchanged at JD6.

Profits of Jordan Cement Company dropped by 6 per cent during the first half of the year compared to the same period last year. Sales reached 2.02 million tonnes compared to 2.019 million tonnes during the comparable period last year. The share price of the company closed the week at JD12, up by 0.24 per cent.

Saudi Savola Group agreed to buy a 5 per cent stake in Taameer Holding Company for SR100 million ($26.67 million).

Saudi Arabia's Al Rajhi Real Estate Investments signed a preliminary agreement to buy a 10 per cent stake in Jordan's High Performance Real Estate Investments . The Saudi company plans to increase its stake to 25 per cent at later stages.

Revenues generated by Jordan Press Foundation (PRES) during the first half of 2007 surged to JD13.4 million, 13.8 per cent higher than the JD11.75 million recorded during the same period last year. Net profit reached JD5.44 million.

© Jordan Times 2007