On the Tunis Stock Exchange, the conventional reading of financial markets quickly shows its limits. Where investors typically favor fundamentals – growth, profitability, margins, or balance-sheet structure – a more discreet yet decisive variable emerges as the key to interpretation: liquidity.
In a developed market, the informational efficiency hypothesis remains broadly operative. But in a mid-sized market like Tunis, this hypothesis is weakening. Prices do not reflect only the available economic information. They also reflect the market’s capacity or incapacity to absorb order flows.
In other words, price formation is not solely a function of the listed companies, but depends closely on the very structure of the market.
Limited depth
Liquidity is measured across three fundamental dimensions: traded volumes, the depth of order books, and the spread between bid and ask prices. Yet, on the Tunis market, these indicators reveal a constraining structural reality.
In 2025, the total volume of transactions on the Tunis Stock Exchange stood around 2.5 to 3 billion dinars, a modest level compared with other emerging markets of similar size. Even more telling, nearly 60% to 70% of trades are concentrated in fewer than ten stocks, reflecting a strong polarization of liquidity.
The free float also remains a major limiting factor. In many listed companies, more than 50% to 70% of capital is held by reference shareholders, thereby reducing the amount of shares actually available for trading.
This configuration creates a narrow market, where even a small variation in flows can trigger disproportionately large price movements.
Volatility amplification
One of the most visible effects of this shallow depth is the amplification of volatility. In a liquid market, orders are absorbed gradually. In Tunis, however, a transaction of relatively modest size can suffice to move a price significantly.
