By: Dr. Rania Ghazi Abu Ghoush
Organizational Development and Risk Management Consultant
Jordan Daily - The Amman Stock Exchange has delivered a set of numbers that would be welcome in any emerging market. By early November, the ASE General Index was up 14 percent from the end of 2025, reaching 4,117.3 points. The total-return index, which captures the effect of dividends as well as price movements, had gained 18.2 percent. Trading value was 55.8 percent higher than in the comparable period a year earlier, and average daily turnover had risen to JD13.4 million from JD8.8 million. Market capitalization stood at JD28.9 billion, up 9.1 percent.
These are not isolated figures. They suggest a market that has regained momentum after a long period in which thin trading often made price signals difficult to interpret. But they also pose a more consequential question for Jordan: can a stronger secondary market become a more effective channel for financing productive investment?
The first number - 14 percent - should be read with care. An index advance is a useful signal of improving valuation and expectations, but it is not proof that the market has become deeper. A rise concentrated in a limited group of liquid stocks can lift the headline index without necessarily widening access to capital for the broader corporate sector. The 18.2 percent increase in the total-return index is therefore important: it points to returns supported not only by changing prices, but also by cash distributions from listed companies.
The second test is liquidity. The increase in trading value and the move in average daily turnover from JD8.8 million to JD13.4 million matter because liquidity is not merely a convenience for traders. It affects the cost of entering and exiting a position, the credibility of market prices and the willingness of institutional investors to commit capital for longer periods. A market in which investors can trade efficiently is better placed to price risk, absorb information and attract a wider pool of savings.
The third number is JD28.9 billion. Market capitalization is a measure of the listed sector's weight, not of financing capacity by itself. Yet its rise gives policymakers and market institutions a stronger base from which to address the next challenge: increasing the supply of investable opportunities. The issue is not only whether listed shares appreciate; it is whether growing businesses can see the exchange as a credible route to raise equity, strengthen governance and diversify away from bank lending alone.
Corporate performance offers a fourth signal. Listed companies reported JD1.776 billion in after-tax profits for the first nine months of 2026, up 4.8 percent from a year earlier; profits before tax rose 5 percent to JD2.474 billion. These earnings provide substance beneath the market's performance, although the sectoral composition of those profits still matters. A resilient market needs breadth: sound banks and large industrial companies are essential, but so are scalable firms in technology, health, logistics, tourism and other productive services.
The fifth number is 45.8 percent: the share of ASE market capitalization owned by non-Jordanian investors at the end of October. This is a meaningful vote of confidence in a market operating in a difficult regional environment. It also brings a discipline that should be welcomed. External investors monitor disclosure, trading depth, governance, currency stability and the practical ease of moving capital in and out. Their participation should not be treated as a substitute for domestic institutional investment, but as a reason to keep improving the market's rules and infrastructure.
The sixth number lies beyond the exchange itself. Jordan entered this period with inflation averaging 2.26 percent over the first nine months of 2026, real GDP growth of 2.94 percent in the first half and gross foreign reserves of $27.507 billion at the end of October. These macroeconomic conditions do not guarantee equity-market gains, but they help explain why investor confidence can strengthen despite regional uncertainty. Capital markets do not operate in isolation; they price the credibility of the wider economy.
The policy task now is not to celebrate a good run as an end in itself. It is to convert it into market depth. That means widening the pipeline of qualified listings, strengthening the quality and timeliness of disclosure, expanding investment products and improving the conditions for market making and institutional participation. It also means treating the secondary market and the primary market as connected: liquid trading today can lower the cost of raising capital tomorrow.
Jordan does not need to imitate larger exchanges to make progress. Its advantage can be a market known for credible information, proportionate regulation, dependable settlement and a clear connection to the financing needs of the real economy. The six numbers are encouraging. The more important measure is whether they lead to companies that invest, hire, export and grow with capital raised transparently at home.
Figures: Amman Stock Exchange releases and statistical bulletins, November 2026; Central Bank of Jordan indicators, updated November 2026.
