Trade via exchange-traded funds at Iran Fara Bourse (IFB) reached 85,403 trillion rials ($170.8 billion) in the first eleven months (ended Feb. 22) of the calendar year -- 146% higher on the same time last year indicating the rising role of ETFs in the equities market.
Based on the latest market report seen on the IFB website, ETFs worth 10,047 trillion rials ($21 billion) changed hands in the month, up 49% from the same month last year.
An ETF is a type of pooled investment security. Typically, ETFs track a particular index, sector, commodity, or other asset, but can be purchased or sold on a stock exchange in the same way as a regular stock. The price of ETF units change throughout a trading day as the units are bought and sold.
ETFs include diverse investments, including stocks, commodities and bonds. They usually offer low expense ratios and less broker commissions than individual stocks.
IFB reported 137% increase in trade in the first eleven months of the year that ends in late March. The website said about 1,084 billion shares were traded at the junior stock exchange worth 91,826 trillion rials ($183.6 billion) in the eleven months --annual growth of 90% and 137% in value and volume, respectively.
IFB's all-share index, IFX, jumped 9.1% during the period to end the eleventh month at 20,043.
More than 240.3 billion securities worth 1,284 trillion rials ($2.56b) were traded in IFB's First Market, up 58% in volume and 24% in value.
Over 212 billion securities worth 966 trillion rials ($1.93 b) changed hands in the Second Market, registering 23% growth in volume but down 15% in value.
Iran Fara Bourse is one of the four Iranian exchanges and operates under the supervision of the Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO), a member of IOSCO.
IFB was founded in November 2008 to assist companies wanting to join the capital market and enhance their corporate governance and business by providing easier listing requirements.
Monthly Data
Performance of this market in the fiscal month to February 22 shows that IFX lost 6.8% to close at 20,043.
During the month under review, more than 141 billion securities valued at 10,987 trillion rials ($21.97b) were traded, up 83% in volume and 55% in value.
More than 33.57 billion securities worth 212 trillion rials ($424 million) were traded in IFB's First Market, registering 188% increase in volume and 185% in value.
Over 33.1 billion securities valued at 131 trillion rials ($262 m) changed hands in the Second Market -- up 81% in value and 64% in volume.
During the month, 7.4 billion financial assets worth 578.3 trillion rials ($1.156b) were traded daily. In addition, the average daily transactions at IFB were close to 5 billion shares worth about 340 billion rials.
The average daily transactions of Islamic financial securities in 19 days last month reached 556.51 trillion rials ($1.112b).
Moreover, 5.3 million mortgage loan certificates with a total value of 6,583 trillion rials ($13.16 billion) were traded via the IFB in previous month.
IFB data also show that the derivatives market shot up by nearly 6,000% compared to the same period last year, with transactions worth over 992 billion rials ($1.9 million).
The SME market hosted 3,202 trillion rials ($6.4b) worth of transactions, indicating 2,128% growth compared to the same period last year.
In the market for innovative financial instruments, transactions worth 10,496 trillion rials ($20 billion) were recorded during the month, which was up 53% y/y.
