Downward Pressure of Stocks

EghtesadOnline: Tehran’s share market was mostly bearish in the last Iranian week as panic selling continued amid the ubiquitous investor uncertainty.

News ID: ۷۸۷۳۰۷

20 November 2021

The benchmark of Tehran Stock Exchange, TEDPIX, shed 45,729 points in the week to lose 3% compared to the week before.

The average daily value of retail trade reached 45.78 trillion rials ($163 million), down 26% from 61.19 trillion rials ($218m) on the week before.

Net capital outflow by retail traders reached 12.3 trillion rials ($43m) in the week, which was a massive 645% higher on the week.

The Persian-language economic website Eqtesad News said part of the money exited from the stocks had gone into fixed income investment funds.

It said at least 1.45 trillion rials or 12% of the outflowing money was invested in mutual funds indicating their increasing traction to retail investors.

Stocks were expected to recover in the preceding week after the government pledge to revive the long stuttering market renewed some hope among nervous investors.

However, a report in the beginning of the week perturbed investors and negatively impacted sentiment. The government opposed the decision by big auto companies to raise prices by 17%. The decision spurred a sell-off in the market that has seen more than its share of volatility since the summer of 2020.

The government has often been asked to stop intervening in pricing goods made by the listed companies, including auto prices, and let the prices be set by freely with the dynamics of demand and supply, as is the case in most progressive economies.

Decades of mandatory pricing of goods produced by domestic companies is seen as one of the main reasons battering the stock market facing almost non-stop challenges.

Earlier in the month, the Economy Minister Ehsan Khandouzi met stock market officials, managers of investment banks and CEOs of the top 30 listed companies to find ways to revive the bourse.

At another meeting senior economic, banking and capital market officials examined ways to restore confidence in the underperforming financial markets.