Published on 5/19/2026
The Tehran Stock Exchange resumed trading today, Tuesday, after a pause that lasted about 80 days, imposed by the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran on February 28, amid indications of a gradual return of confidence to the market despite fears of a widespread selling wave.
According to Iranian state television, trading operations in stocks, stock funds, and financial derivatives related to stocks have returned, while it was decided to extend market working hours by an additional hour to allow more time for major companies affected by the war to disclose their data and financial information.
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The Iranian Students News Agency quoted the Executive Director of the Tehran Stock Exchange, Mahmoud Goudarzi, as saying that more than two trillion tomans ($15.1 million) of individual investor funds entered the capital market with the reopening of the stock exchange.
The Tehran Stock Exchange is largely isolated from global financial indicators as a result of US sanctions, and has been closed since the outbreak of the war following the US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
Trading contrary to expectations
The Iranian Tasnim Agency said that the reopening of the market came in contrast to the expectations of many analysts, who expected the stock market to be exposed to a heavy selling wave and a sharp decline in indicators during the first trading sessions.
The agency added, “The first hours of trading showed that the scenario expected by pessimists did not match reality, and that the market, contrary to initial perceptions, reacted more calmly and rationally.”
Trading data during the first hour showed that the general index declined by only about 5,243 points, reaching 3.7 million points, a decrease of 0.14%, which the agency described as “a very limited decrease compared to the prevailing psychological atmosphere in the market during the past days.”
Green color surprises
One of the most prominent surprises of the first session was that about half of the traded stocks turned green, after several sectors entered the scope of gains, including cement, medicines, food, and sugar, while the communications and investments sector witnessed mixed performance between buying and selling.
The data indicated that the value of retail transactions exceeded 13 trillion tomans ($9.8 million), which reflects remarkable activity in trading and an influx of liquidity into the market despite the continuing political and economic tensions.
Tasnim Agency said that the first day of reopening “sent a clear message to market participants that, contrary to many expectations, the stock market was not engulfed in intense selling operations, but rather that some investors overcame the negative atmosphere and returned to trading with a different vision.”
As the end of the session approached, market losses reduced further with an increase in purchase orders, while the equal weights index shifted to positive territory, an indication of improved sentiment compared to the pessimistic expectations that preceded the reopening.
