Tehran Stock market on Saturday capped a tumultuous three months with another substantial drop.
After a roller-coaster ride through autumn that saw the market make historic gains on a plunging rial, the TEDPIX fell nearly 1% to finish the first trading day of winter at 154,505.5– a point considered to be the market's support level not easily to be broken before the yearend in March.
The drop in oil prices in the days prior to Saturday's session was the main reason behind the heavy pressure on refinery stocks, causing them to act as a drag on the main index.
Oil prices extended this week’s sell-off on Friday, posting the worst weekly performance in nearly three years, as global oversupply kept buyers away from the market ahead of the New Year festivities.
Brent crude was down 40 cents at $53.95 per barrel bouncing from the session’s 15½-month low at $52.79. Brent was on pace for a decline of more than 10% for the week.
Crude has lost ground along with major equity markets as investors fret about the strength of the global economy heading into next year. On the global scene, further concerns were raised as the United States, the world’s biggest oil consumer, announced a government shutdown late on Friday.
As TSE went down to levels seen before autumn, analysts were hopeful that the new low would mark the end of herd behavior exhibited by jittery investors whose irrational behavior caused gyrations in the last three months.
With companies' third-quarter earnings results expected in the coming days, the market could see some justifiable growth if corporate profits prove to be up to par.
Performance of Indices
The TSE's main index TEDPIX lost 1,532.72 points or 0.98% on Saturday to end trading at 154,505.5.
About 1 .22 billion shares valued at 5.41 trillion rials ($53.57 million) changed hands at TSE for the day.
Trading at TSE and over-the-counter Iran Fara Bourse starts on Saturday and ends Wednesday.
Derakhshan Tehran Manufacturing and Industrial Company was the biggest winner as its shares went up 6.17% to 8,375 rials.
Sa'adi Tile & Ceramic Manufacturing Company incurred the biggest loss among all TSE-listed companies and went down 5% to 1,958 rials per share.
Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company contributed the most to the benchmark's fall, followed by Parsian Oil & Gas Development Group Co. and Bandar Abbas Oil Refining Company.
Bank Mellat gave the biggest boost to the benchmark index, followed by Mapna Group and Tamin Petroleum & Petrochemical Co.
The Price Index lost 445.53 points to close at 44,927.1.
The First Market Index was down 1,098.91 points to post 113, 184.1. Second Market Index decreased by 3,197.46 points to reach 311,136.5.
The Industry Index went down by 1,787.21 points to register 139,417.8. Free Float Index was down 1,167.14 points to hit 166,381.06.
TSE 30 went down 75.98 points to settle at 7,519.8 and the TSE 50 ended 83.00 points lower to finish at 6,654.4.
Iran Fara Bourse’s main index IFX lost 11 points or 0.61% to close Wednesday trade at 1,780.
About 447 million shares and securities valued at $26.31 million were traded at the over-the-counter exchange for the day.
