Stocks waxed and waned at the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) on Monday, after the overall index retreated to settle in red territory in a floppy trade at Monday’s close.
The brittle atmosphere at the equity market as a result of the ambiguities over lingering nuclear talks, a possible budget deficit for the upcoming fiscal year, which start March 20, and sagging global economy weighed on the TSE’s sentiment to keep pulling back.
TSE data illustrated that the benchmark notched down 44.8 points or 0.07 percent to end at 64,675.1. The first market index edged down 5.5 points or 0.01 percent to finish at 47,997.3. The second market index tumbled 267.5 points or 0.21 percent to 124,874.5. The free float index was down 58.1 points or 0.08 percent to stand at 73,773.7. The industry index ticked down 2.2 points to record a flat trading day, and the blue-chip index pulled higher 3.3 points or 0.11 percent to be the only positive contributor to the TEDPIX.
More than 437 million shares changed hands, valued at 1.11 trillion rials to record about 20 percent growth in trade value, though trade volume is at its lowest.
Mobarakeh Steel Company (MSC) surpassed other listed companies to top positive contributors to the benchmark, though the MSC, with a Price Earnings (P/E) of 3.9, was accompanied by downtrend in value. Ghadir Investment Company and Mapna Group took the second and third place respectively.
Tamin Petroleum & Petrochemical Investment Company (TPPIC) was the main laggard to the TSE’s gauge. Saderat Bank and Pension Fund stood next to the TPPIC.
Lack of enthusiasm is reigning over the equity market, with the wobbling economy, anemic economic growth, and credit crunch driving investors to be more cautious. Market analysts believe that individual investors are feeling unsafe by market jitters, while others do not precisely realize the real jitters as they don’t care about long term investment. Uncertainties have presumably led investors to resort to scalping strategies, instead of taking long-run trading approaches.
Scalping is a trading style specializing in taking profits on small price changes, generally soon after a trade has become profitable. It requires a trader to have a strict exit strategy because one large loss could eliminate the many small gains that the trader has worked to obtain.
