December 3, 2001	Monday	Ramazan 17, 1422

AMMAN, Dec 2: Amman bourse rose at start of weekly trade on Sunday as investors shrugged off worries Iraq, the country’s main trading partner, could be Washington’s next military target in its proclaimed war on terror, dealers said.

The official 75-share Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) index weighed by market capitalisation gained 1.08 percent to close at 174.76 points in turnover of 2.4 million dinars ($3.4 million).

The bourse’s healthy performance partly reversed last week’s losses on the back of investor fears Washington planned to target Iraq after Afghanistan.

“Fears slightly eased and the bourse appears to be resuming its medium upward trend,” said Tareq al-Ansari, general manager of Bahrain-based Arab Banking Corporation’s Jordanian subsidiary’s investment arm.

Gainers led losers 39 to eight with 17 shares unchanged.

Many Jordanian firms depend on the lucrative Iraqi market for exports and say a rupture in commercial ties as a result of conflict would inflict a heavy blow to the economy.

Dealers said market mainstay Arab Bank, widely seen as a flight-to-quality share, rose 0.82 percent to close at 214.8 dinars in turnover of around 416,040 dinars.

The heavyweight bank share typically accounts for the bulk of daily turnover and makes up more than 40 percent of the bourse’s total capitalisation of $6.3 billion.

In the second heaviest traded stock, International Tobacco, the largest tobacco manufacturer in terms of market share, ended 4.82 percent up to close at 3.26 dinars after shares worth around 411,015 dinars changed hands.

Jordan Steel, the country’s leading steel producer with annual capacity of more than 200,000 tons and healthy 2001 prospects, rose 2.99 percent to close at 1.72 dinars after shares worth around 240,000 dinars.

Pharmaceuticals also did well as investors shrugged off Iraq worries.

Arab Pharmaceutical Manufacturing rose 1.95 percent to close at 3.66 dinars after shares worth 152,000 dinars traded. Another leading drug manufacturer with healthy sales to Baghdad, Dar al-Dawa, gained 2.25 percent to close at 3.64 dinars after shares worth 82,000 dinars changed hands.—Reuters