Tehran, Iran – A near-three-month closure of Iran’s stock market has ended with two days of a controlled reopening among some restrictions for investors.Although Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s sessions of the Tehran Stock Exchange allowed investors to generate some liquidity, underlying economic troubles were also evident.A little more than a third of the market’s main players were absent, reportedly to protect shareholders from the effects of the United States-Israel war.A total of 42 ticker symbols for companies representing about 36 percent of the market were offline, Securities and Exchange Organization deputy supervisor Hamid Yari told state media, adding that trading windows were extended by one hour on both days to facilitate the reopening.While Yari said he is hoping for an end to lengthy market closures, this might not be possible if attacks break out again and authorities are forced to intervene.Those absent from the reopening included the Fajr and Mobin petrochemical giants, the Khuzestan and Mobarakeh steel giants, utility firms and investment companies that had a large part of their portfolios invested in infrastructure that was targeted by the US and Israel.The involvement of equity funds with more than 35 percent of their portfolios invested in the most affected companies will also remain suspended until further notice. The stated goal was to “prevent additional selling pressure and support the market”.Measures put in place before the war to prevent any major financial upsets mean that shares in the remaining two-thirds of …
