Market News

– In a bold move that actually will impact saving accounts in favour of the capital market, the central bank of Iran obliged Iranian Banks to no longer pay daily interest on short-term deposits. This directive will be into effect soon and the interest payment base would change from daily to monthly. Moreover, Iranian Banks can no longer pay interest to accounts whose have withdrawal within the month of interest payment. CBI is now more decisive than ever to eliminate speculating activities on the nation’s banking sector.

– After the initial implementation of futures on major indices on the Tehran Stock Exchange now the demand for these new derivatives is rising greatly. Agah analysis shows that there are some good arbitrage opportunities amid the 7 active contracts with the following details:

– Latest data of CBI show that Iran Inflation rate reached 18% for the 12 months period ended December 21, 2018, which is 2.4% higher contrary to the same time last month. The figure of CPI rose to 151.7 and had a monthly growth of 2.6% (for the second time this year). The point to point figure of inflation stood at 37.40%. Food and beverages along with tobacco have the highest monthly rise amid other sectors (+4.8%).

In the Market

The stock market showed a rather strong reaction to its previous losses today with solid gains. TEDPIX (1.39%) jumped more than 2,100 points andIFEX (+2.07%) closed above 1,800 level in a hopeful session that was accompanied by more than expected support of big mutual funds and institutions. Although there is a huge gap to fill considering the recent downfalls of markets, however, today was a sign of improvement should tomorrow’s market lets.

Except for some micro-cap sectors, almost all the giants and mid-sized ones ended the day in good green, however, the demand for commodity-based industries were shaky mostly due to uncertainties of the future of global markets. Metals (+2.13%), Iron Ores (2.14%) and Oil Products (+2.23%) were better demanded today as their components became more attractive than ever after the recent falls.

Elsewhere, the demand for tickers of mid-weighted Banking (+3.70%) was higher again considering the fact that their capital raises are closer than ever. After a short halt, Tejarat Bank (BTEJ, +9.15%) reopened today and left a record high trading volume (+415 mn trades) behind. Mellat (BMLT, +4.40%) and Saderat (BSDR, +4.73%) reached buy queues early morning, however, could not hold to their top highs and settled slightly lower.

In general, analysts believe that unless the market bullish trend stays bullish in coming days, there cannot be a valid read on the future of Iranian capital market.

Source:

2018, Iranian Banks are no longer paying daily interest on deposit accounts!, Sunday, Dec 23  p.1,<https://agahgroup.com>