Finally...

This Monday, the US Senate finally ratified the long awaited US-Jordan Free Trade Agreement, which permits both countries to engage in bilateral free trade. After the agreement was finally endorsed, the market recovered from earlier losses caused by the first two sessions of the week. The agreement, which has completed all the constitutional stages, is expected to propel Jordan into a new era of economic development by boosting exports and attracting foreign direct investments.

After the rebound, the wave of mass selling finally cooled off and prices settled throughout the rest of the week. The value traded was on the high side thanks to a number of bloc deals executed on behalf of the Social Security Corporation, the nation's largest institutional investor, as it upped its stake in Jordan Duty Free Shops (JDFS) from a number of sides including the Jordan Investment Corporation. All in all, around 8.3 million shares changed hands in deals worth more than JD23 million, while the number of decliners outnumbered that of advancers by two to one.

Industrial Commercial and Agriculture (ICAG) saw its price fumble this week. After a wave of ads in local papers that stated that Unilever, a global consumer goods giant, had revoked its license from ICAG, investors were eager to sell their shares and were even asking for prices below the allowable downward limit. It fell some 16% for the week and closed at JD0.82.

Perennial favorite, Arab Bank (ARBK), saw its shares slide below JD170 for the first time in almost seven weeks but it still managed to end the week just below JD180. International Tobacco and Cigarettes, which sells brands such as L&M under license from Philip Morris Inc., experienced unusual volatility but eventually managed to pull up from earlier losses and record only a 6% decline.

Jordan Cement Factories (JOCM) also sunk to an uncomfortably low level of JD2.59 before pulling back up again and even managed to make a marginal gain of 1%; it closed at JD2.75.