AMMAN (JT) - Amid substantially lower trading volumes, the Amman bourse continued to shed more points for the third week in a row driven by declining share prices of most strategic companies.
The general index of the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) ended Wednesday's trading session at 2,454.48 points to record its lowest level since November 4, 2004, only to rise slightly on Thursday and close last week at 2,462.53 points, a drop of 2.8 per cent compared to the closing level in the previous week.
We expect relative tranquility in the bourse this week due to the start of the holy month of Ramadan, before investors start building new positions in the shares of leading companies which reached attractive price levels.
All sectors regressed last week especially the real estate index which recorded the largest loss of 6.1 per cent.
As for trading activity, 72.1 million shares exchanged hands leaving losses at 124 companies and gains at 54 entities out of 196 traded corporations.
In terms of value traded by sector, real estate came in first place accounting for 30.2 per cent of the total followed by the services with 27.3 per cent and then the industrial sector which accounted for 17.3 per cent of the total value traded.
The most actively traded shares last week were those of Taameer Jordan, Contemporary for Housing Projects, and Office Holding Group with a combined value traded of JD14.8 million representing 18.2 per cent of the week's total value traded.
Three block deals were executed on the shares of Jordan Investment Trust, Al Ahlia Enterprises and Middle East Diversified Investment with transaction value of JD11.5 million, JD2.7 million and JD1.1 million respectively.
Jordan Dubai Capital sold its 28 per cent stake in Jordan Investment Trust , or JordInvest, for JD11.5 million.
Afaq Energy Company bought 92 per cent of Jordan Modern Oil and Fuel Company at a cost of JD47.5 million.
Net income of Jordan Commercial Bank during the first six months of this year amounted to JD2 million compared to JD6.7 million in the same period last year.
Deera Investment & Real Estate Development Company submitted an offer to acquire 100 per cent of Amwaj Properties through a 1:1.7 share swap whereby shareholders of Amwaj will get one Deera share for every 1.7 shares they own in Amwaj.
Data issued by the Department of Statistics (DoS) showed a 1 per cent decline in the general industrial prices index during the first half of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008.
The DoS calculated that the general industrial production index declined by 1.9 per cent during the first half of 2009 compared to the same period last year.
According to the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), the Kingdom's gross tourism income increased by 2.3 per cent during the first seven months of this year to JD1.1 billion.
The CBJ revealed that excess reserves, including overnight window deposits held at the CBJ, reached JD3.6 billion as of August 19, 2009, whereas the mandatory reserves totalled around JD1 billion.
Customs revenue reached JD708.6 million in the first seven months of this year, compared to JD709.8 million during the same period last year.
Disclaimer: The above information and opinions have been compiled in good faith from sources believed to be reliable, but Capital Investments makes no warranty as to the truth and accuracy of the information contained herein. All opinions expressed are not to be regarded as investment advice, and are only for informative purposes. Therefore, Capital Investments accepts no liability whatsoever for any loss of any kind arising out of the use of all or any part of this report.
© Jordan Times 2009
