Named and Shamed, Again

The market edged down this week as the AMI shed around 1% to close at 95.85. This comes shortly after the market experienced a small rally over past weeks, and many saw this 'correction' as inevitable. More than 7 million shares changed hands in deals worth more than JD9.2 million. Expectedly, the number of decliners outnumbered that of advancers by more than two to one.

Banks were not as active this week as many of them have yet to release their semi annual results for the year. Perennial favorite, Arab Bank (ARBK), slipped slightly as it closed at JD171.8, while Export and Finance Bank (EXFB) also cooled off after last week's intense trading volumes. On the other hand, trading activity on Jordan Investment & Finance Bank (JIFB) gathered slight momentum towards the end of the week.

Surprisingly, insurance companies were somewhat active this week with 11 of them appearing on the charts, albeit at very low volumes.

International Tobacco and Cigarettes (ITCC) was the most active stock as positive results published in a local paper prompted increased demand and pushed the price back above JD2 to close at JD2.12. Dar Al Dawa for Development & Investment (DADI) also seemed to cool off after a few weeks of excessive trade; this time it dipped below the JD3 mark before closing once again on the mark. Jordan Steel (JOST), which has also become a favorite for some speculators, slowly crept up towards the end of the session after moderate losses earlier this week.

Meanwhile, a report in a leading local paper stated that the Jordan Securities Commission (JSC) has sent out warnings to companies that have not observed its disclosure requirements. Some 54 companies have yet to make their semi-annual results available to the JSC and general public. The paper, which listed the names of the violating companies, showed that around 25% of these companies were banks. Other major companies on that list were troubled Jordan Phosphate Mines (JOPH) and Jordan Petroleum Refinery (JOPT).