Lift Off - Atlas ASE Market Brief Jan 03, 2002

On Sunday, the last trading session of 2001, the market settled as prices dipped slightly. When trading resumed on Wednesday, investors expected a mild retraction in prices because of the gains recorded towards the end of December. Much to everybody's surprise, prices soared on the first trading session of the New Year only to cool off on the next day. Over the three-day week, more than 11 million shares flooded the market in deals worth more than JD17 million. Advancers outnumbered decliners by almost four to one.

Some stocks remained solid and advanced by the maximum allowable limit for the first two days of the year. Distinguished stock, Jordan Steel (JOST) was one of the most active stocks as expectations for its profitability mounted, and even pulled up National Steel (NAST) along with it. Similarly, Advanced Pharmaceuticals (ADPH), National Aluminum (NATA), and United Arab Investors (UAIC) soared by roughly 10% for the week.

Banks in general also improved slightly, with the Arab Bank (ARBK), Export and Finance Bank (EXFB), Bank of Jordan (BOJX), and Jordan National Bank (JONB) all ending the week with small gains. Similarly, blue chips such as Arab Potash (APOT), Jordan Cement Factories (JOCM), and Jordan Phosphate Mines (JOPH) made some gains by the end of the week.

Good news on the disclosure front. Arab Orient Insurance (AALI) is the first company to officially disclose its preliminary results for 2001. On only the second day of the year, AALI had already released its financials showing that its gross premiums had doubled in 2001 to JD4.3 million while its assets showed a healthy 14% increase to JD5.3 million. This comes at a time when, according to the official insurance index, the entire insurance sector underperformed the market by some 13%.