Leaving Home - Atlas ASE Market Brief August 29, 2002

The week started out badly for the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) with value traded not reaching the JD1 million mark on Sunday. Nevertheless, volumes picked up through the middle of the week, slightly pushing the AMI up 0.12% to 130.39. More than 7.4 million shares changed hands in deals worth JD8.6 million as some of the less active stocks took on the spot light.

The Philadelphia Investment Bank (PHIB) was the most active stock of the week, with several large and small bloc deals taking place. A foreign group has decided to invest in the bank, which is expected to post good earnings for the first half of the year. PHIB closed at JD0.97, up 24% from its previous price, with 1.37 million shares changing hands.

The Middle East investment Bank (MEIB) was met with high levels of demand on Thursday. With 0.26 million shares traded, MEIB climbed 11% to JD0.61. Otherwise, the rest of the banking sector was unfazed with very low trading volumes, Arab Bank (ARBK) settled at JD192.00 while Jordan Kuwait Bank (JOKB) closed at JD3.65.

Arab Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (APHA) was finally able to break through the JD4.00 barrier this week, but volumes were not enough to sustain the rise. APHA ended the week at JD3.89, up only 4%.

Meanwhile, the Jordan Petroleum Refinery (JOPT) vacillated somewhat as certain shareholders shifted their positions. The stock did not handle it well, however, falling 5% to JD13.50.

International Ceramic Industries (ICER), on the other hand, had almost 0.14 million of its shares change hands as its price rose 7% from JD0.90 to JD0.96.