Jordan Times
Tuesday, September 7, 1999
Shares close firmer in quiet trading
Amman (R) — Shares firmed on Monday in quiet trading, but selling pressure on some pharmaceutical blue-chip firms weighed on overall activity, dealers said.
The Amman Financial Markets index rose 0.23 per cent to close at 161.16 points in modest turnover of JD558,681 ($788,000) dominated by a handful of shares.
Brokers blame much of the bourse's plight to a shortage of liquidity as banks prefer to steer away from holding new portfolio positions.
“An improvement in the market needs outside liquidity,” said Husam Al-Hanbali of Arab cooperation financial investment company.
Cash-strapped investors with minimal buying appetite are also dragging trading volumes and prices down, brokers said.
Arab Pharmaceutical Manufacturing shed JD0.04 to close at JD2.55 in the second heaviest transaction of the day worth just JD88,020.
Another leading drug producer, Dar Al-Dawa lost JD0.03 to close at JD2.68 after shares worth only JD13,313 changed hands.
Some renewed buying interest propped up Arab Bank, after its decline over the last three sessions. The bank rose a modest JD0.50 to close at JD196.50 in the heaviest transactions of the day.
Price levels of most stocks have for weeks been undermined by local selling and profit-taking in absence of portfolio and institutional demand.