Hardly Much

Only one month after September's attacks on the United States, the impacts on the local stock market have already become obvious. As the US commenced its military strikes against its targets in Afghanistan overall market sentiment weakened while liquidity also seemed to shrivel. Despite all this, investors are still relieved that the market, since the incidents, has suffered a mere 4.8% drop. Indeed, all this was reflected in the week's session especially as the value traded dipped below JD1 million for the second time in only one month.

Although the number of declining issues outnumbered the advancers by almost two to one, the overall market index rose only marginally to 98.79. Around 3.9 million shares changed hands in deals worth around JD6.3 million, backed by a number of smaller bloc deals on selected stocks such as Jordan Duty Free Shops (JDFS), Bank of Jordan (BOJX), and Jordan Gulf Bank (JOGB).

Jordan Phosphate Mines (JOPH) was the single biggest gainer as it rose some 11% for the week. The Housing Bank (THBK), the largest bank in terms of paid up capital, saw some exceptional trading activity this week. At the start of the week, it made some modest advances before retreating slightly, as it came under pressure from a wave of international sell orders. The sell orders also included Dar Al Dawa for Development & Investment (DADI), Jordan National Bank (JONB), Arab Bank (ARBK), and Jordan Petroleum Refinery (JOPT). Despite these downward pressures, none of them suffered major losses, and they all stood steady.

On the regulatory front, the Jordan Securities Commission (JSC) has announced that a number of amendments have been proposed to the 1997 Securities Law. According to a report in a local paper, the anticipated changes, which are currently being reviewed by the legislative authorities, delegate more power to the Commission with regards to inspection and scrutiny of financial and other companies that fall under its jurisdiction. At the same time, certain adjustments would also apply with regards to disclosure, transparency and broadening the scope of the Jordanian capital markets. Meanwhile, the ASE announced earlier that it had planned to suspend trading of five companies that failed to provide the regulators with their semi-annual financial reports. Later on, two of these companies provided their financials and resumed trading.