Jordan Times
Monday, December 31, 2001
Bourse closes year on a positive note
By Tareq Ayyoub
AMMAN — A senior bourse official on Sunday described 2001 as a “distinguished” year for the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) due to the monetary policies the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) undertook and structural steps taken by the bourse.ASE's Chief Executive Officer Jalil Tarif said that trading volume at the end of this year rose by 100 per cent, up to JD669 million, the highest such level since 1994.
Jalil pointed out that the bourse's General Price Index rose by 30 per cent to close at 172.72 points while market capitalisation increased by 28 per cent, up to JD4.55 billion.
The bourse official said that profits of the listed firms rose by 35 per cent in the first half of this year amid expectations of a similar performance at the end of the current year.
“The performance of the ASE is the best among Arab bourses ... and one of the best among merging markets,” Jalil said in a written statement, a copy of which was made available to The Jordan Times.
He indicated that among the reasons behind this achievement is the CBJ's decision to reduce interest rates which many believe triggered investors to shift some of their investments to the bourse to gain more profits.
Jalil said that confidence was boosted in the bourse following the endorsement of the Jordan-US Free Trade Agreement, membership in the World Trade Organisation and the continuation of the privatisation process.
According to official figures, the price index of the banking, industrial, services and insurance sectors rose by 38, 22, 10 and 11 per cent respectively this year.
Meanwhile, trading in the ASE amounted to JD3.3 million in the last session of the 2001 while the bourse price index closed down by 0.08 per cent.
Almost one third of the trading volume was recorded by the Arab Bank, the ASE's daily bulletin said.
The bank's shares, the bourse leading blue-chip which controls almost 42 per cent of the market capitalisation, closed at JD200.
The second most active stock, Jordan Steel, a major importer and manufacturer of industrial rods, rose by 2.02 per cent to close at JD2.02 after shares worth JD528,799 changed hands.
The steel share was recently boosted by an announcement of a large export order to Iraq, a major trading partner.
The leading cigarette producer International Tobacco and Cigarettes gained 1.20 per cent to close at JD3.36 after shares worth JD233,185 changed hands.
The bourse will be closed on Monday due to a traditional halt trading day before New Year as brokers spend the day doing year-end bookkeeping.