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Tehran Stocks Drop After U.S. Kills Top Iranian General

Tehran Stocks Drop After U.S. Kills Top Iranian General

(Bloomberg) -- Iran’s stocks slumped at the start of the trading week after the killing of a top military commander raised fears of a military confrontation with the U.S.

The TEDPIX, the country’s main all-share index, dropped more than 4% to 367, 610 points by midday on Saturday, the lowest level since Dec. 25, according to data on the Tehran Stock Exchange’s official website, tse.ir. The stock exchange caps daily fluctuations at 5 percent to control market volatility, according to its website.

Iran has vowed revenge after the commander of Iran’s Qods Force, General Qassem Soleimani, was killed in a U.S. missile strike in Baghdad late Thursday night.

The stock index is up almost 90 percent since March 2019, the beginning of the Iranian financial year. It hit a three-year high in October, according to the the state-owned Securities & Exchange News Agency which cited stability in the rial and a drop in demand for gold and foreign currencies at the time.

To contact the reporter on this story: Arsalan Shahla in Tehran at ashahla@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Riad Hamade at rhamade@bloomberg.net

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