The value and size of trade at the main Iranian stock market has reached levels described by experts as truly unbelievable.
Saturday reports in the Iranian media showed that the main index in the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) had hit an all time high of 409,962.25 points, an increase of 2.63% or 10,517 points for TEDPIX compared to the previous day of trade.
That came as TSE’s price index, known as TEPIX, also rose 3.28% to hit 126,014 points.
Total value of shares in the TSE reached 14,908.299 trillion rials (over $110 billion), said the reports, adding that trades in the first day of the Iranian week reached a total of 692,893 times for 9.266 billion shares worth of 39.855 trillion rial (nearly $300 million).
The boom in trade comes as more Iranian households tend to view shares as a safe way of protecting their savings against fluctuations in the market.
The government has also played a role in the surge by selling bonds known as sukuk which are seen by many as a form of high-yield investment.
Experts have described the surge as surprising given the current economic situation in Iran and the fact that the country is under a harsh regime of sanctions imposed by the United States.
TEDPIX, the main index at the TSE, was hovering around 90,000 points in 2015, when Iran was relieved of a previous round of international sanctions which had been imposed over its nuclear program.
Also on Saturday, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) launched its first round of trades for bonds under its newly initiated open market operation (OMO) policies.
Reports said the purchase by CBI of bonds offered by major banks and financial institutions began earlier in the day at Fara Bourse (IFB), a small-cap market, where the total index increased 165 points to reach 5,276 on Saturday.
The total value of trade at IFB also hit 30,133 trillion rials (over $223 million), said the reports.