December 25 2020
The Tehran Stock Exchange continues to limp along, but is no longer plunging as it did after peaking early in August.
The TSE’s main TEDPIX index maintained a narrow range in December from a low of 1,413,000 to a high of 1,527,000. That is a loss of about 30 percent from the highest point the index ever recorded, which was 2,078,512 on August 9.
Since that high, the index plunged in August, leveled off in September, plunged again in October, and held fairly steady in November and December.
The loss has infuriated many ordinary investors, who entered the market in the early summer as the government—including President Rohani himself—urged the public to invest in the stock market and stop buying foreign currency. Those investors claimed the government had pledged to support the market—which it did not do. Nonethelas, the stock market plunge has further reduced respect for the government.
The stock exchange responded to the plunge by changing some trading rules. For example, it forbade day trading—the practice of buying and selling a stock on the same day, sometimes even trading it multiple times in a day, trying to ride small changes for a profit. Many analysts think this poisons the market and creates erratic market behavior. But after several weeks, the stock exchange has now authorized day trading once again, as other analysts say it improves the liquidity of the market.