The General Price Index of the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) on Tuesday dipped by 1.3 percent as a result of a decline in the share prices of the Arab Bank, the bourse's leading blue chip.
The ASE's daily bulletin showed that the price index slipped to 136.2 points at the end of trading, down from 138.06 points on Monday. Arab Bank shares dropped by JD4, down to JD160 apiece compared to JD164 on Monday.
Brokers said the supply of Arab Bank shares, mostly by non-Jordanian investors, had exceeded demand, leading to the sudden decline in the share price.
The daily bulletin showed that trades of Arab Bank shares totalling JD270,345 accounted for half of the trading volume on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the price index of the banking sector as a whole shrank by 1.9 percent to 205.4 points. Most of the banks whose shares were traded on the floor saw a drop in their share prices.
The bulletin showed that the price indexes of the industrial and insurance sectors also recorded a decline, slipping by 0.24 and 0.85 points, respectively.
The price index of the service sector recorded no change, the bulletin showed. ― (Jordan Times)
By Tareq Ayyoub
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
