Trading volume rises on JD8.7m deal for Arab Bank shares

AMMAN — An JD8.7 million deal for the sale of 2.2 million shares of the blue chip Arab Bank pushed up trading value at the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) on Wednesday to 24.3 million.اضافة اعلان

Wednesday’s session also saw the trading of Housing Bank shares, amounting to some JD5 million, while the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company and the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company came in second and third place in terms of trading value, followed by Union Land Development Corporation. Traded shares during Tuesday’s session amounted to 10.3 million shares, traded through 4,325 transactions.

The share price index of the ASE continued its upward trend, achieving gains of 0.69 percent on Tuesday, with trading closing at 1,865.22 points.

The good level of trading, relative to the ASE, were due to a number of factors, most important of which is a huge improvement in mining shares, due to the global rise of fertilizer prices, in addition to better investor outlook, as the rise in price levels extended to some service sector companies. 

Some service sector shares saw more investor interest because of performance optimism, and some due to speculation based on short-lived investor purchases followed by sell-offs due to optimism of rising prices.

Since the 2008 global financial crisis, the ASE has witnessed consecutive blows, with the market value dropping to very low levels, due to the drop in share prices below book value. The market value of listed shares stood at JD14.4 billion. Before the 2008 financial crisis, market value neared JD45 billion.

This has led many investors, particularly local ones, to invest in securities with good cash dividends, in light of low interest rates due to decisions taken by the Central Bank of Jordan since the beginning of the pandemic, with the aim of stimulating economic growth.

The shares of 92 companies were traded on Tuesday, with the share prices of 38 companies rising, and those of 34 companies declining.

At the sector level, the service index increased by 1.90 percent, the industrial index increased by 1.69 percent, and the financial index decreased by 0.12 percent.

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