AMMAN — According to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, the general price index
for shares listed on the
Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) rose 5.38 percent, to 2,407
points, at the close of last week’s trading. During the previous week, the
daily average trading volume was around JD11.8 million, up from JD7.1 million
the week before, a 66 percent rise, while the total weekly trading volume was
around JD59.2 million, up from JD35.7 million the week before. This increase,
according to some analysts, is unprecedented.
اضافة اعلان
Sami Shraim, an
economist, told
Jordan News that “this year has been a great one,” with
some significant enterprises achieving record numbers in comparison to prior
years. According to him, “ASE has recently been flooded with good prospects,
which boosted demand and raised investors’ willingness to keep their stocks and
acquire more.”
Shraim added that this year’s dividend payment “has
surely led to a rise in stock prices, and this year’s profits were bigger than
predicted, giving investors further reason to be optimistic”.
ASE has lost JD28 billion since 2005, as the market
value has dropped from JD44 billion to around JD15 billion, he said, adding
that “what happened this year is a significant shift”.
Shraim urged sovereign funds, investors, and the
Social Security Corporation to increase their investments in the stock market,
which he described as “full of great and promising chances” as many companies’
shares trade at less than half their true value.
He explained that huge corporations, such as mining
companies, the
Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company, and banks, have recently made
“great profits”, and that these companies “have a big influence because they
make up a large percentage of the market”.
According to Shraim, the surge in worldwide market
prices had a substantial impact on the prices of minerals, resulting in
significant profits for both the
Jordan Phosphate Mines Company and the Arab
Potash Company, which are now expanding into the production of semi-finished
items.
He lamented the government’s poor role in developing
the ASE, and urged it to “work on developing legislation to turn challenges
into opportunities, as it can help create positive investment conditions”.
Economist
Mazen Irsheid told
Jordan News that
there was an improvement in trade volumes and liquidity at the start of this
year, compared to the previous year. This had favorable results for some of the
big ASE businesses, such as mining companies, which saw their stock prices rise
to levels not seen since 2006.
According to Irsheid, the Russian war on
Ukraine resulted in an increase in the prices of basic materials, such as fertilizers,
which benefited both the phosphate and the potash company, and “as demand for
fertilizers increased, profits soared and these companies achieved
unprecedented success”.
The
Jordan Phosphate Company reportedly had a net
profit of JD320 million, the largest since it started operating.
Irshaid said the “Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company
stock broke the JD4 barrier for the first time last week, and continues to
break new records this week”. The company’s figures for the previous year were
encouraging, with a profit of almost JD52 million, the highest since the
company was founded, he added.
Big companies with a large market capitalization had
the greatest impact on the ASE index, he reiterated, and they distributed
generous dividends this year. As a result, “investors will be more confident to
buy more shares”, he said.
The ASE index exceeded expectations at technical
level, Irsheid said; “it could not break the 2220 point barrier 10 years ago,
but this year it did, reaching the 2,400 point level, which is a positive sign
for the Jordanian market”.
Economist Zayn Zawaneh told
Jordan News that
the rise in the ASE index is “good news,” especially considering that many
companies were severely harmed during the
COVID-19 pandemic, which “affected
loan payments and dividend distribution, causing clear harm to companies and
shareholders” alike.
He added that enterprises recovered and their
financial performance improved, resulting in record profits and dividends, and
this makes the stock market more appealing to both Jordanian and foreign
investors.
Non-Jordanian ownership of stocks surpasses 50 percent, he
said, adding that “nothing prevents the creation of procedures that make these
foreign investments long-term rather than short-term”.
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