TSE Benchmark Ends Week 0.9% Lower

Tehran Stock Exchange’s main index lost 755 points or 0.9% during the week that ended June 7 to close at 79,758.

The smaller over-the-counter Iran Fara Bourse’s benchmark, IFX, also shed 15 points or 1.6% to 901.

TSE and IFB were closed on Sunday and Monday. Trading at Iran’s stock market starts on Saturday and ends on Wednesday.

Most of the losses were incurred on Wednesday after Tehran became the scene of two terrorist attacks. TEDPIX lost 535 points or 0.67% to end Wednesday trade at 79,758.5.

IFX shed 16.01 points or 1.76% to end Wednesday trade at 896.05.

Seventeen people were killed and at least 52 others were wounded as Tehran was rocked by twin terrorist attacks on Wednesday, one targeting the parliament in downtown Tehran and the other the mausoleum of Imam Khomeini in the south of the city. The self-styled Islamic State terrorists claimed the assaults during the holy month of Ramadan.

The two Iranian exchanges have been on a rollercoaster ride over the past couple of weeks. The final results of Iran’s presidential election were out on May 20, with the incumbent Hassan Rouhani winning 57% of the vote.

Stocks reacted favorably the same day and reached new highs. TEDPIX shot up 0.91% to reach a six-month high of 81,077.6 and IFX surged 1.28% to an all-time high of 927.31.

The dramatic growth, however, proved to be a short-term excitement and followed a path of correction soon after.

Moreover, stocks entered the holy month of Ramadan just a week after the elections. The month is widely known to be a period of reduced productivity in the economy and consequently subdued investor sentiment in the market.

Over the past week, more than 1.5 billion shares valued at $101.18 million were traded on TSE. The number of traded shares and trade value shrank by 47% compared to the previous week.

TSE’s First Market Index shed 492 points or 0.88% to end at 55,068.

The Second Market Index dropped 1,857 points or 1.03% to close at 178,381.

At IFB, more than 977 million securities valued at $122.36 million were traded. The number of traded shares and weekly trade value shrank by 41% and 32% respectively compared to the previous week.

IFB’s market cap lost $214.34 million or 1.6% to reach $28.27 billion.

Its First Market witnessed the trading of 109 million securities valued at $6.81 million, indicating a 49% and 55% downturn in the number of traded securities and trade value respectively.

About 406 million securities valued at $17.28 million were traded in the Second Market, with the number of traded securities and trade value shrinking by 16% and 32% week-on-week.