The Ability of Financial Ratios to Predict the Index of Banking Sector in Amman Stock Exchange: An empirical study
The main objective of this study is to test the ability of the financial ratios (ownership ratio, liquidity ratio, debt ratio, stock turnover ratio, return on equity ratio, return on total assets ratio, and market value to book value ratio) to predict the index of the banking sector in Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) using yearly data during the period between 2000 and 2014. The study counts on fourteen banks listed on Amman Stock Exchange. Using the ordinary least square method (OLS), the seven selected variables against the index of the banking sector have been tested. The findings dictate the financial ratios can predict the index of the banking sector in Amman Stock Exchange and dictate a statistically significant positive relationship between the liquidity ratio, debt ratio, stock turnover ratio, return on total assets ratio, market value to book value ratio with the banking sector index in Amman Stock Exchange. In addition, the study showed a statistically significant negative relationship between, return on equity ratio and the banking sector index in Amman Stock Exchange. In contrast, there is no statistically significant relationship between the ownership ratio and the index of the banking sector in the Amman Stock Exchange.