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have been driven into stocks to shield the value of their savings.
“Iran’s bourse showed it can hedge against foreign currency risks and is the best market to guarantee people’s money with high dividends,” the manager of a Tehran-based asset management firm, who asked not to be named, was quoted as saying by the ​Financial Times​ on October 4.
The top 30 listed companies on the Tehran stock exchange represent more than 60% of the bourse’s market cap, according to local analysts. They include the country’s top exporters of petrochemicals, steel and copper, businesses which generate foreign currency income, thus offering protection from the domestic economic turmoil.
According to the FT, the combined market value of the Tehran Stock Exchange and the Iran Fara Bourse—the over-the-counter trading venue in the capital—has doubled in dollar terms over the past year. However, this total is some way below its 2014 peak when, as former US president Barack Obama was coming to an accommodation with Iran that would result in the 2015 nuclear deal that withdrew international sanctions against the Iranians in return for compliance with measures barring any potential path they might take to the development of a nuclear weapon, hopes were rising that the vast economic potential of the country.
The American sanctions, brought in by Donald Trump who exited the nuclear accord in May last year with demands that it should be toughened up, have barred any increase in foreign portfolio investment into Iran. That is estimated to have stayed around $50m since 2018, down from 2009 when it exceeded $100m, according to local equity houses.
“Iran’s capital market is for investors who have stamina, rather than those who see skyrocketing figures and dream of quick money,” a manager of a local investment fund was cited as remarking by the UK financial daily.
Iran - Financial market as of Jan 2020 as of Jun 2019 as of Jun 2018 as of Dec 2017
Equity market index: Tehran Stock Exchange (TEDPIX)
427,139 248,533 111,528.2 95,561.5
Market capitalisation: % of GDP
23.9% (2017) 23.9% (2017) 25.7% (2016) 22.7% (2015)
Market cap: Tehran Stock Exchange 327.20 (Dec 224.85 100.66 105.98 (TSE) (USD bn) 2019)
PE ratio: TSE 8.60 8.41 6.76 7.01 Source: CEIC
8.3.1​ Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME)
Iran launches pistachio futures market
The Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) on October 13 launched a pistachio futures market, Tehran’s ​Financial Tribune​ reported.
Looking for approaches that squeeze added value from pistachio reserves, the IME is banking on the fluctuating price of the nut being suited to a futures market setting.
“The reason why there is no similar market in the world for either pistachios or saffron is because these things are mainly farmed in Iran,” the IME website
37​ IRAN Country Report​ March 2020 www.intellinews.com