Lead
Midday Wednesday, Mordad 21, 1405 (August 12, 2026), the dollar in Tehran's free market snapped its five day slide, the longest losing streak of the year, jumping 1.19 percent to 187,800 tomans. At the same time, the Emami gold coin's premium, which had compressed sharply just days earlier, jumped more than 50 percent in a single day to about 4,227,000 tomans. The simultaneous rebound in the dollar and the coin premium came as Tehran's TEDPIX index closed at a fresh record yesterday, entering the 5.7 million point channel for the first time, and was still holding that range this morning before the market reopened. Globally, gold and silver were higher and Brent crude neared $90.
Today's Snapshot
| Market | Latest | Change | Date/Time |
|---|
| Free market dollar | 187,800 tomans | +1.19% | Mordad 21 (today) |
| Agreed rate dollar (exchange center, sell) | 155,145 tomans | +0.14% | Mordad 20 |
| 18 karat gold (per gram) | 19,205,600 tomans | +2.15% | Mordad 20, 7:59pm |
| Emami gold coin | 189,485,000 tomans | +1.6% | Mordad 20, 7:59pm |
| Emami coin premium | 4,227,000 tomans | +51.67% | Mordad 20, 7:59pm |
| TEDPIX (Tehran main index) | 5,736,485 points | +1.46% | Mordad 20 (record; holding this morning) |
| Farabourse index (IFX) | 45,929 points | +about 1.1% | Mordad 20 |
| Bitcoin | $63,755 | +0.2% | Today, 10:49am |
| Gold (XAUUSD) | $4,399 | +0.67% | Today, 10:49am |
| Brent crude | $89.6 | +0.51% | Today, 10:49am |
| Rebar A3, 14-20mm (IME) | 675,629 rials/kg | flat | Mordad 20 |
| Type 2 (42.5) bulk cement (IME) | 27,109 rials/kg | flat | Mordad 20 |
Today's Top Headlines
- The dollar jumped 1.19 percent, snapping its five day slide, to reach 187,800 tomans (Wednesday, Mordad 21; Khabar Online, citing tgju.org).
- Tehran's TEDPIX rose 1.46 percent yesterday to enter the 5.7 million point channel for the first time, its seventh straight positive session (Tuesday, Mordad 20; Donya-e-Eqtesad).
- Strait of Hormuz traffic fell to just six vessels on Monday, the lowest in over two months; Bank of America says only 5 to 10 ships a day now transit the strait, versus about 140 a day before the war (Monday, Mordad 19; Kpler and Reuters via Oilprice.com).
- Trump demanded 50 years of compensation from Iran, complicating talks on reopening the Strait of Hormuz; Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said talks with Oman are progressing "smoothly and constructively" (Monday, Mordad 19; Al Jazeera).
- A drone hit a power station near Libya's Zawiya refinery, the country's largest operating refinery with 120,000 barrels a day of exports, and Tripoli is weighing a shutdown (Wednesday, Mordad 21; Al Jazeera).
Currency
Tehran's free market dollar stood at 187,800 tomans at midday today, up 1.19 percent from yesterday and 3.76 percent over the past month according to Khabar Online, citing tgju.org, a marked rebound from this week's one month low of about 183,000 tomans on Monday, Mordad 19. Alanchand.com's live feed also showed a dollar sell rate of 187,600 tomans at 11:05am today, consistent with the tgju figure. The dollar's prior five day slide had been attributed to speculation over easing Strait of Hormuz tensions; with the tone of talks now more complicated, part of that risk premium has returned to the price.
Alongside the free market, the dollar rate at Iran's Exchange Center for Currency and Gold (the official "agreed" rate) traded yesterday at 155,145 tomans on the sell side and 153,749 tomans on the buy side, a gap of nearly 32,600 tomans (about 21 percent) versus the free market rate, a reminder that the agreed rate is a separate channel for part of Iran's foreign trade and should not be conflated with the free market dollar. On monetary policy, Central Bank Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati said early today that Iran will soon join the BRICS New Development Bank and that monetary cooperation with India has begun, part of Iran's push to build alternative financial channels under sanctions.
Gold and Coin
18 karat gold in the domestic market rose 2.15 percent yesterday to cross the 19 million toman per gram threshold, reaching 19,205,600 tomans; the Emami coin rose 1.6 percent to 189,485,000 tomans (single unit retail: 190,490,000 tomans). But today's real story is the coin premium: according to tgju.org, independently matched in Sahmino's own price feed, the Emami coin's premium jumped 14,400,000 rials (51.67 percent) yesterday to about 4,227,000 tomans, a reversal that came just days after the sharp compression covered in Sahmino's report on the coin and melted gold premium.
Tgju's own market commentary attributed part of the renewed premium to the simultaneous rise in the free market dollar and global gold, noting many traders remain uncertain the political calm will hold and are acting cautiously, a mix that could keep the premium volatile in coming days. Globally, spot gold stood at $4,399 at 10:49am today on Sahmino's feed, consistent with tgju's $4,404.99 reading; silver traded above $65, up nearly 2 percent. Gold and silver had climbed to around $4,420 last night before failing to hold above $4,400 (Ecoiran, Tuesday night).
Stocks: Tehran Bourse and Farabourse
Tehran's TEDPIX closed yesterday's session up 82,308 points (1.46 percent) at 5,736,485 points, entering the 5.7 million point channel for the first time; Donya-e-Eqtesad reported it as the index's seventh straight positive session. The equal weight index rose about 1.1 percent to 1,604,844 points, indicating the gains were broader than a handful of large caps. According to Sahmino's own data, individual investor flow on the Tehran bourse was net positive yesterday while institutions were net sellers, a pattern that has repeated for several weeks in this rally. This morning, before the reopening, TEDPIX was still holding that record range, and the market entered today's live session with the same momentum.
Farabourse, a fully separate exchange and index from the Tehran bourse, is on a calmer uptrend: its index (IFX) reached 45,929 points yesterday, versus 45,433 on Monday and 45,054 on Sunday, up nearly 2 percent over three sessions without the Tehran bourse's headline record run. The Ehya IPO that debuted on Farabourse last week remained locked at its buy queue in its second trading session, trading nearly 36 percent above its offer price (Sahmino, Tuesday, Mordad 20).
Crypto
Crypto moved against the broader global trend: Bitcoin fell below $64,000 last night just as gold, silver and oil all traded higher (Ecoiran, Tuesday night). At 10:49am today, Bitcoin was priced at $63,755 on Sahmino's feed (up a modest 0.2 percent), a level Alanchand.com also confirmed today at $63,760. Ethereum traded around $1,890, up about half a percent, and Tether in the domestic market eased 0.12 percent to 188,081 tomans.
In corporate news, Strategy CEO Phong Le said yesterday the company will resume Bitcoin purchases later this calendar year after a seven week pause (Arzdigital, Tuesday, Mordad 20), a potential positive signal for institutional demand, though exact timing has not been disclosed. BlackRock, which manages more than $15 trillion in assets, called asset tokenization the "next generation" of financial markets (Arzdigital, Tuesday, Mordad 20).
Iron and Steel
On the Iran Mercantile Exchange, A3 rebar (14-20mm) settled Monday, Mordad 19, at 675,629 rials (about 67,563 tomans) per kilogram, and the 22-32mm size at 688,724 rials (68,872 tomans); these are volume weighted averages from that day's IME trading, not an announced rate, and field prices typically run above them. The recent rise in the free market dollar and the industrial FX rate, alongside inflation expectations, have been among the main drivers of pressure on steelmakers' costs in recent weeks.
Cars
Iran's car market saw narrow, directionless price moves on Wednesday; Khabar Online reported that continued uncertainty over the economic and political outlook, combined with weak effective demand, has kept prices from forming a clear trend. Among Iran Khodro products, the Peugeot 207 Automatic Panorama fell 17 million tomans over the past three days to 2.58 billion tomans, while the Dena Plus Automatic rose 5 million tomans since the start of the week to 2.69 billion tomans; the Tara Automatic V4 held steady at 2.57 billion tomans.
In the Saipa lineup, the Shahin Automatic Plus dropped 14 million tomans to about 2.586 billion tomans and the Quick S eased 1 million tomans, while the Saina S rose 10 million tomans over the past two days to 1.238 billion tomans. That divergence between models suggests the car market has not yet fully followed today's 1.19 percent dollar move, and is instead pricing each model on its own demand.
Building Materials
On the Iran Mercantile Exchange, Type 2 (42.5) bulk cement settled Monday, Mordad 19, at 27,109 rials (about 2,711 tomans) per kilogram, and the 50kg bag of the same type at 39,496 rials (nearly 3,950 tomans) per kilogram, extending the trend Sahmino reported earlier: Tehran cement has risen nearly 33.5 percent in two weeks and topped its Tir 9 level, with the bag premium doubling at most producers. Rising seasonal construction demand, producers' energy costs and the industrial FX rate, alongside limited commodity deposit certificate supply, remain the main drivers.
Regional and Global Outlook
Brent crude stood at $89.6 at 10:49am today (up 0.51 percent), after swinging between $88 and near $90 last night (Ecoiran). The American Petroleum Institute said yesterday that US crude inventories rose 9.072 million barrels in the week ending August 7, against expectations for a 500,000 barrel draw. The main channel of this volatility to Tehran is Strait of Hormuz risk: Kpler data reported by Reuters showed only six vessels transited the strait on Monday, versus a 10 day average of 11; Bank of America's Francisco Blanch said only 5 to 10 ships a day now pass through Hormuz, versus about 140 a day before the war. At the same time, a drone hit a power station near Libya's Zawiya refinery, the country's largest operating refinery with 120,000 barrels a day of exports, and Libya's government is weighing a shutdown (Al Jazeera, today), a parallel risk that could add to pressure on global oil supply.
In regional currencies, the Turkish lira stood near 47.75 per dollar today (Sahmino), little changed. Global gold and silver moved in step with oil, higher on the day, while Bitcoin bucked that trend, falling below $64,000 (Ecoiran, Tuesday night).
Takeaway
Today's takeaway: after several days of relative calm, a risk premium has returned to Iran's parallel markets. The moment the tone of Hormuz talks turned more complicated, the dollar snapped its five day slide and the coin premium jumped more than 50 percent overnight. Yet Tehran's bourse, on its seventh straight positive session, showed it is for now moving independently of that political anxiety, driven mainly by its own liquidity and equity demand dynamics. Today was the day the dollar and the coin premium rebounded together, not the day of the bourse; but the bourse remains the undisputed record holder of recent weeks.
What to Watch Today
- Continued Iran-Oman talks on the Strait of Hormuz shipping route map and the energy market's reaction.
- Developments at Libya's Zawiya refinery and whether the National Oil Corporation declares force majeure.
- Whether today's coin premium jump holds or reverts to last week's compression.
- Whether TEDPIX's seventh day rally continues and individual investor buying repeats in today's session.
- Zambia's presidential election on Thursday, Mordad 22, an event that could move the global copper market.
For more scheduled events, see Sahmino's market calendar.
