Performance of The Amman Stock Exchange during 2010

Mr. Jalil Tarif, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) said that the ASE ended trading transactions for the year 2010. During this year, the trading value reached JD6.7 billion compared to JD9.7 billion for 2009. The ASE price index weighted by free float shares closed at 2374 points with a decrease of 6.3% compared with the closing of 2009 which stood at 2534 points. However, the non-Jordanian ownership as a percentage of market capitalization of the ASE has increased to 49.6% at the end of the year 2010, compared with 48.9% at the end of the year 2009, although the net non-Jordanian investments in the ASE has declined by JD14.6 million during the year 2010, compared with a decline of JD3.8 million during 2009.
Mr. Tarif added that the ASE has continued its efforts aiming at developing the securities market, where it achieved a number of projects that are meant to strengthen the development and increase the efficiency and transparency of the market; modernize the technical infrastructure, and enhance the information dissemination. The ASE has launched the Internet Trading Service during 2010, which represents an opportunity for a greater number of investors to engage in the securities trading regardless of their geographic location, which would increase the number of investors, and enhance their appetite to trade in securities. Also, the ASE has launched its new website both in English and Arabic versions. The new website is based on a dynamic design, advanced technology and comprehensive data.
Five new companies have been listed at the ASE during 2010 raising the number of listed companies to 277. In addition, the market capitalization of listed shares at the ASE has amounted to JD21.9 Billion, constituting 122.7% of the GDP.
The number of traded shares witnessed an increase during 2010 of 16.1% and reached 7 billion shares, traded through 1.9 million transactions, compared with 6 billion shares traded during 2009 through 3 million transactions. The share turnover ratio has also increased to reach 102.2% during 2010, compared with 91.3% during 2009.