Supporting Evidence

The little volume it took to steer last week's market hiccup at the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) was put to different use this week. Thin trading aided the exchange in its, albeit modest, climb. A little more than 16.5 million shares, worth almost JD29 million changed hands as large caps, represented by the AMI, staggered somewhat, while smaller companies pushed ahead, which explains the ASMI's 3% rise to 241.27.

The Banking sector was the main driving force behind the market this week as many of the quieter stocks decided to join in the activity. The Jordan Gulf Bank (JOGB) caught market participants' curiosity as 1.6 million of its shares traded, raising the share price 17% to JD0.07. According to a local leading Arabic daily, JOGB has attracted investors from the Gulf who are looking into forming a strategic partnership with the troubled bank. The endeavour would include pumping in some funds to raise capital and aid liquidity.

Jordan National Bank (JONB) and Société Générale Jordanie (MEIB) climbed 11% to JD1.28 and JD1.11, respectively. JONB saw almost 1 million of its shares change hands, while MEIB had only one fifth of that amount trade. Banks in general are now looking at ways of capital restructuring.

Real estate development company, Beit El Mal Saving and Investment for Housing (BAMB), a star player the past month, had a hard blow this week as it faced a continuous drop in value, only to be saved at the last trading session. BAMB fell 30% to JD2.94 with less than 0.23 million shares changing hands. On the other hand, Real Estate Investment (REIN), which is in a similar line of business, saw 0.8 million of its share trade as it advanced 17% to JD1.08.

Arab Potash (APOT), which is still halted from trading, has issued an invitation to its shareholders to attend the company's extraordinary general assembly that will be held on Wednesday, 15 October 2003. Issues on the table include decreasing the number of seats on the board of directors to thirteen instead of fifteen, and altering the company's covenants to allow for APOT to act as guarantor for its subsidiaries' bank loans.