TEHRAN (Iran News) – The main stock index in Iran broke through the one-million-point mark for the first time on Saturday.
The Tehran Stock Exchange’s benchmark TEDPIX index gained 42,294 points in trading on Saturday, rising above 1,020,000 points.
Some 6.6 billion shares changed hands in more than 1.09 million times of exchange. The total value of the shares traded reached more than 101 trillion rials (nearly $616 million) in the TSE.
The jump came after two days of a slump for the TEDPIX. It had closed the previous session on Wednesday at 977,923.47, down 2,647.54 points, or 0.27%.
Iran main stock index had seen several daily jumps of 35,000 points earlier this month.
Experts believe the rebound in the stock market was fueled by optimism over government plans to list more initial public offerings.
Underwriting began on Monday for the imminent listing of a government-led exchange tradable fund (ETF) comprising of three major banks and two insurance and reinsurance companies. That added nearly $1 billion to the TSE’s value.
Last month, a major government-run investment holding, known as Shasta, launched its initial public offering in a subsidiary market of the TSE known as Iran Fara Bourse (IFB) to attract 70 trillion rials, or around $430 million, in new finances.
Investing in shares has become very popular in Iran over the past months as many businesses and households are no longer interested in low returns on gold or foreign currencies.
Some analysts, however, say the booming stock market is at odds with Iran’s economic fundamentals, which have been badly affected by US sanctions, raising the risk of a stock market bubble.
Press TV and Reuters contributed to this story.
- source : Iran Daily, Irannews
