Atlas ASE Market Brief 5 July 2001

Amman Stock Exchange (ASE)

Weekly Commentary (1st - 5th July).

ASE Report Card

Yet another busy week on the stock exchange in Amman, as more than 6 million shares flushed the market in deals worth almost JD13 million. The AMI closed slightly higher at 93.20, as the UN Security Council dismissed the Anglo-American sponsored "Smart Sanctions", which would have sent Jordan into economic distress. In line with more recent weeks, the advancing stocks outnumbered the declining ones, this time around five to three.

Perennial favorite, Arab Bank (ARBK), still managed to hold on to earlier gains it achieved in the previous weeks. In fact, more than 22,000 shares in bloc deals alone were executed, as outlook for the bank's future remained intact.

The pharmaceutical sector in general lived excessive trade, as Dar Al Dawa for Investment & Development (DADI) and Arab Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (APHA) were amongst the biggest advancers of the week, closing up 8% and 13%, respectively.

Steel producers, Jordan Steel (JOST) and National Steel Industries (NAST) also made reinforcing gains. A shiny outlook for the steel producers in Jordan seems plausible because, while global steel prices are on the fall, improved marketing and distributing schemes have increased local steel sales. JOST reached as high as JD1.09 before closing at JD1.07, while NAST managed to close at JD0.98, up 25% from almost three months ago.

The banking sector was another active one as the Housing Bank (HSBK), Jordan Kuwait Bank (JOKB), and Jordan National Bank (JONB), made gains of 10%, 9%, and 7%, respectively.

Finally, in terms of liquidity, the numbers seem to spell out an improvement in terms of trading activity. Value traded for the first half of 2001 increased by some 16%, over last year's JD167 million, while trading volumes increased by some 10% to currently stand at around 118 million shares. People are optimistic that, with the right mix of regulation and political stability, things may seem to finally get rosier for Jordan, at last!