Amman - Jordanian stocks plunged 3.2 per cent on Wednesday in a sell-off panic that was attributed by financial analysts to inflated prices of strategic firms and lack of moving factors ahead of the fasting month of Ramadan. The decline brought to about 7 per cent the accumulated losses of the Amman Stock Market (ASE) since the start of the trading week on Sunday.
"I believe the plunge has been triggered by the awareness of investors that this year's dramatic rise of certain stocks, particularly mining firms, has been exaggerated and that the time has come for a deep correction," Nizar Taher, chief of brokerage at the Jordan Ahli Bank, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
He referred mainly to the Arab Potash Co., the Jordan Phosphates Mines Co. and the Jordan Petroleum Refinery, the shares of which more than trebled over the past few months.
However, Taher predicted that share prices to pick up next week as investors were expected to make benefit from the low prices to build new positions.
