IFB Hits 2-Year Peak

Shares on Tehran Stock Exchange fell on Tuesday, ending the five-week rally that brought the market to a 6-1/2-month high on Saturday. The Iran Fara Bourse took its own course and hit a two-year high, while the rial slipped further against all major currencies in Tehran.

The Central Bank of Iran followed cues from markets and devalued the rial’s official exchange rates against 30 out of 39 currencies it deals with.

TSE benchmark TEDPIX fell 604 points or 0.75% to 79,659.2 points by the market’s close, as investors pared their positions in major miners and refiners, TSE Technology Management Company data showed.

Gol Gohar mining industries Company, Chadormalu Mining and Industrial Company and National Iranian Copper Industries Company, along with Esfahan, Bandar Abbas and Tehran refineries, were the greatest drags on the index.

Iran Fara Bourse, on the other hand, set a record on Tuesday. Its main index, IFX, gained 0.38% and closed at 841.37 points—its highest since 17 Nov. 2014, driven by its major petrochemical producers and energy companies, according to IFB’s website.

Maroun Petrochemical Company up 1.2%, Zagros Petrochemical Company up 4.7%, Damavand Power Generation Management up 1.2% and MAPNA’a Asalouyeh Electricity Company up 3% were the main drivers of IFX.

In currency markets, the rial continued its decline for the second week. The dollar edged up to a fresh 10-month high of 36,290 against the rial. The euro, sterling and the Emirati dirham gained 0.3% each to 39,960 rials, 44,580 rials, 9,930 rials respectively by 1050 GMT in Tehran, data by Tehran Gold and Jewelers Union showed.

The CBI chased the trend in the markets, devaluing the rial’s exchange rate against 30 currencies. The bank slightly strengthened the rial against seven currencies, including the Swiss franc, Norwegian krone, Russian ruble and Iraqi dinar. It kept its exchange rate against India’s rupee and Afghanistan’s afghani unchanged.

CBI wants to unify Iran’s forex regime, but the dollar’s advances in recent month increase the gap between market and official rates, in turn making the shock of abolishing the official exchange rate greater.