Booming Banks

Better than expected semi annual results for a number of companies fueled volumes throughout the week. Daily value traded remained well above the JD2 million mark without the help of bloc deals as general prices rose at the beginning of the week, before cooling down as the weekend approached. More than 9 million shares changed hands in deals worth almost JD13 million, while the number of advancers outnumbered that of decliners by almost 13 to 4.

Banks in general were on the rise. The Arab Bank (ARBK) returned to the scene as strong demand brought its price up to around JD174, while Jordan Kuwait Bank (JOKB) made big gains, albeit at very poor volumes. Ahead of its earnings announcement the Export and Finance Bank (EXFB) weakened after it made impressive gains in earlier sessions. Other banks on the rise were the Housing Bank for Trade & Finance (THBK), Jordan Islamic Bank (JOIB) and Union Bank for Savings & Investments (UBSI) - all of which jumped by more than 10%.

Industrial Commercial & Agricultural (ICAG), which had ran into trouble not very recently, made an impressive gain of 13% while Universal Modern Industries (UMIC) gathered momentum ahead of its mid year reports and managed to gain 16%. Meanwhile, International Tobacco & Cigarettes (ITCC) and Jordan Steel (JOST) seem to have lost their steam as they leveled off to steady prices. Other stocks that made exceptional gains were Intermediate Petrochemical Industries (IPET) and Jordan New Cables (JNCC), both have which have become favorites for speculators.

Finally, pharmaceuticals also traded heavily, and for the first time in more than two years, Dar Al Dawa for Development & Investment (DADI) overtook Arab Pharmaceuticals (APHA) as they closed at JD3.15 and JD3.10, respectively.