AMMAN –– The total value of shares bought by non-Jordanian investors at the Amman bourse last year almost tripled compared with 2012, official figures showed Wednesday.
According to statistics released by the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) on its website, foreign investors bought shares valued at JD939.5 million in 2013, while their purchases stood at JD322.9 million in 2012.
Non-Jordanian purchases last year represented around 31 per cent of overall trading at the bourse, the ASE said in its report, indicating that the value of shares sold by foreign investors amounted to JD792.6 million.
In 2012, the value of shares bought by non-Jordanians represented 16.3 per cent of overall trading, while they sold shares worth JD285.3 million.
The ASE said that Arab investor purchases in 2013 stood at JD818.5 million, or 87.1 per cent of the overall purchases by non-Jordanians, while the value of non-Arab purchases amounted to JD121 million, constituting 12.9 per cent of the total purchases.
Arab investor sales amounted to JD693.2 million, 87.5 per cent of the total sales by non-Jordanians, while the value of non-Arab sales stood at JD99.4 million, representing 12.5 per cent of the total sales by foreigners, the data revealed.
Non-Jordanian ownership in companies listed on the ASE by the end of 2013 represented 49.9 per cent of the total market value, 35.5 per cent for Arab investors and 14.4 per cent for non-Arab investors.
At the sector level, foreign ownership in the market capitalisation of listed companies at the end of last year reached 54.9 per cent for the financial sector, 30.5 per cent for the services sector and 52.3 per cent for the industrial sector, according to the ASE.
