Market News

-Stressing on the need to reconsider some decisions, the Head of the Economic Commission of Majlis announced their agreement as a whole with the recent measures taken by the government to control and manage the foreign exchange market. As has been previously reported in Agah daily reports, the government set a single exchange rate to the dollar at IRR 42,000 since last Monday. However, setting a fixed exchange rate was among those the Majlis Commission was dissatisfied due to its adverse consequences for the country’s economy, stating that the government should have set a more realistic rate after the USD rose to IRR 62,000 and gradually moving towards lower prices. The commission members will again sit with government representatives early next week to discuss the status, challenges and solutions for taking the current attempts further.

-In its latest estimates, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) put Iran’s economic growth, unemployment and inflation rates in 2017 at 3.4%, 11.8% and 9.9%, respectively; it is so while it had previously predicted economic growth at 3.5%. This body has forecasted Iran to experience 4% growth in its economy in 2018; besides, the inflation and unemployment rates are also estimated to reach 12.1% and 11.7% in 2018.

In the Market

The Sugar Industry was highly demanded just like the previous session; the majority of names closed with buy queues. With Ramadan coming, this sector is believed to benefit its shareholders. The Food and Beverages space also saw a positive sentiment with some like Pak Dairies and Pegah-e Azerbaijan-e Qarbi closing with buy queues.

The Metals space witnessed positive trades. Tuka Foolad Investment and Alumrad gained 4%. Kimia-ye Zanjan Gostaran Mineral received its license from the SEO to raise its capital by 100% based on retained earnings; it faced a buy queue.

The Iron Ore sector also settled with slim gains, although Iran Manganese Mines managed to go up by 4%.

The Oil Products industry saw better trades, with Tabriz Oil Refining and Iranol as top gainers, both growing by 20%.

Source:

2018, Majlis to Sit with Officials!, Wednesday, April 18, p.1,<https://agahgroup.com>