oil sectors as well as the growth of stock market liquidity flow contributed to the boom. Experts commented that the growth was also partly due to a government decision to sell off 20 percent of its equity in two major automakers. Given the relative low market valuation of TSE stocks in 2010, the upward trend was expected to continue over the long run, rather than being a bubble. TEPIX reached a new record on September 18, 2010, when it hit 18,658, up from 11,295 at the start of the year. As of December 2010, the TSE index rose about 64 percent since the start of 2010. The Tehran Stock Exchange has been ranked as the best bourse index in Europe, Africa and Middle East in 2010 in terms of performance of the main index. 2011: On February 1, 2011, TEPIX and total market value reached an all-time high of 21,349 and US$100 billion respectively. An alleged $200 million investments by Iranian expats also contributed to this increase. On April 9, 2011, TSE's main index (TEPIX) hit a new all-time record high at 26,222 over a boost from the stocks of metal and shipping industries. According to the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), TSE had the best performance among WFE member exchanges from May 2010 to May 2011. With a staggering 79% growth rate in its main index, the TSE ranked 1st in WFE's "Broad Stock Index Performance" category followed by the Colombo and Lima Stock Exchanges with 75.1% and 48.9% rates respectively. Overall, Tehran stock exchange posted the second highest gains in global markets in 2011 (TEPIX up 29.6%). Meanwhile, the German's DAX (DAX INDEX) lost 16.5% due and the FTSE 100(UKX INDEX) performed poorly, down 6.7%. Stock markets of emerging economies, like Brazil's Brazil Bovespa Index (IBOV INDEX), shed 18.4%. Equally, MENA stock markets had a poor year in 2011, reflecting both the political turbulence across the region and the battering suffered by most global markets as a result of the eurozone crisis and the increasingly bearish outlook for the global economy. 2012: TSE's overall index hit a new record high in October 2012 surpassing 31,000 points. Export-oriented companies have been favoured because of the imposition of an oil embargo by the international community and the consequent sharp decline in the value of the Iranian rial over 2012. 2013: Following Iranian rial's strong devaluation between 2012 and 2013 and