On Sunday, 4 Mordad 1405 (26 July 2026), the Tehran Stock Exchange did something it had failed to do for three weeks: the main index rose 107,877 points, or 2.20 percent, to close at 5,002,330 points and moved back inside the five million channel (final trading-system data, day close). But the number is not the whole story. In the very hours money was flowing onto the exchange floor, the free-market dollar fell 1.72 percent and 18-karat gold fell 2.1 percent. In other words, the equity rally was funded out of the parallel market, not by a general rise in prices.
Today's snapshot
| Market | Latest | Change | As of |
|---|
| TEDPIX (main index) | 5,002,330 pts | +107,877 (2.20%) | Close, Sunday 26 July |
| Free-market dollar | 186,500 tomans | -3,200 (1.72%) | 19:59, Sunday 26 July |
| Exchange Center remittance dollar | 151,787 tomans | +0.14% | 07:47, Monday 27 July |
| 18-karat gold | 17,878,900 tomans | -376,100 (2.1%) | 19:59, Sunday 26 July |
| Emami coin | 181,490,000 tomans | -2,990,000 (1.65%) | 19:59, Sunday 26 July |
| Spot gold | $4,088.78 | +0.89% | 07:59, Monday 27 July |
| Bitcoin | $65,398 | +1.16% | 07:58, Monday 27 July |
| Brent crude | $88.12 | no change recorded | 00:07, Monday 27 July |
Today's headlines
- Per ISNA, the Tehran Stock Exchange main index was positive for a second consecutive session on Sunday 26 July, clearing the five million mark with a gain of 107,756 points; 423,917 trades were recorded.
- Per the same report, the Iran Fara Bourse (over-the-counter) index also rose 771 points to 39,787, on 317,723 trades.
- Iran's Currency and Gold Exchange Center holds its 152nd gold bullion auction tomorrow, Tuesday 6 Mordad 1405 (28 July), from 14:00 to 17:00. Per Eghtesad Online, the deadline to deposit the 5 billion toman margin per bar expires today, Monday 27 July.
- At the previous auction (Tuesday 21 July), 24 of the 26 kilograms offered were sold, for roughly 581.592 billion tomans.
- Per Iranian economic news agencies, continuing diplomatic talks in Muscat and a halt in military tensions pushed currency-market expectations toward lower rates; diplomatic officials stress that no final agreement has been reached.
Stocks: back inside the five million channel
The session detail shows the move began in the opening seconds. The index, which had closed Saturday 25 July at 4,894,453 points, printed 4,975,013 at the first opening tick at 09:05, an opening gap of roughly 80,560 points before a single hour of trading had passed. The intraday high was 5,002,826 and the index settled at 5,002,330.
A reference point makes the size of this shift clear: on 13 July 2026, after several consecutive declining sessions, the index had fallen to about 4,967,000 points and stayed below the psychological five million mark. It took three weeks to win that level back. By 11:05 on Sunday the index was still just under 23,000 points short of the mark; the job was finished in the closing hour.
The cash behind the rally was real. Per capital-market reports, roughly 6,160 billion tomans of retail (haghighi) money entered the market and the retail buying-power ratio stood at 1.23 (an average buy of 111.5 million tomans per retail code against an average sell of 91 million tomans). About two thirds of listed symbols closed green. Total value of trades passed the 24 thousand billion toman mark per ISNA, with some market reports putting it near 32 thousand billion tomans; the gap between those two figures reflects the calculation scope (whole market versus retail trades). The equal-weight index printed 1,393,502. You can follow the index on our main index page.
Currency: a gap that opens and closes with every diplomatic headline
The free-market dollar fell 3,200 tomans (1.72 percent) on Sunday 26 July to 186,500 tomans (as of 19:59 that day). Currency-market reports also described the rate retreating into the 187 thousand toman channel and the euro shedding about five thousand tomans. On the official side, the selling remittance rate at Iran's Currency and Gold Exchange Center stood at 151,787 tomans at 07:47 this Monday morning, effectively unchanged (0.14 percent).
Here is the figure fewer people watch: the distance between those two rates is about 34,700 tomans, meaning the free market trades roughly 22.9 percent above the Exchange Center rate. The mechanism is simple. The Exchange Center rate is an administered, quota-based rate allocated to specific goods and uses, so it moves slowly, while the free rate prices expectations immediately. The practical consequence is that when positive diplomatic news lands, the entire adjustment falls on the free rate and the gap narrows; the official rate barely moves.
The driver of this round of easing was external, not monetary. Continuing diplomatic talks in Muscat and the halt in military tensions strengthened expectations of lower risk. But the same sources stress that a final agreement is not yet in hand, and that ambiguity explains why the rate is stepping down gradually rather than collapsing. The distinction matters: the decline is a recorded fact, but its continuation is an expectation, not a data point. Full rates are on our currency market page.
Gold and coin: down at home, up abroad
Yesterday's divergence was striking. Gram gold (18-karat) fell 376,100 tomans (2.1 percent) to 17,878,900 tomans, and the mesghal fell 2.11 percent to 77,447,000 tomans. The Emami coin dropped 2,990,000 tomans (1.65 percent) to 181,490,000 tomans; the Bahar Azadi coin fell 2.16 percent to 176,100,000 tomans, the half coin stood at 93,500,000 and the quarter coin at 52,500,000 (all as of 19:59 on Sunday 26 July).
Now set the global number beside it: spot gold stood at $4,088.78 at 07:59 this Monday morning, 0.89 percent higher than the previous day (Trading Economics data likewise shows $4,090.57, up 0.95 percent). So the fall in domestic gold had nothing to do with the world market; it was entirely a product of a firmer rial. That distinction matters for households: when the ounce rises and domestic gold falls, what got cheaper is not "gold", it is the dollar embedded inside the gold.
The Emami coin premium (hobab) printed 3,575,000 tomans, about 2 percent of the coin price, a calm level compared with more turbulent periods. More detail on our gold page.
Crypto
Global crypto was green this morning: bitcoin traded at $65,398, up 1.16 percent as of 07:58 on Monday 27 July, and ether at $1,953.83, up 2.17 percent (08:08). Toman-denominated Tether was quoted in Sunday's reports in a 184,300 to 186,800 toman range, down about 2 percent over 24 hours; the spread among those figures reflects differences between exchanges. The structural point is that the Tether-to-cash-dollar gap, about 2,900 tomans on Sunday morning, had effectively closed by the end of the day. The standing reminder: the global bitcoin price is in dollars, and the toman price of any crypto asset carries the dollar rate inside it.
Iron and steel
Steel was quiet with no meaningful change. Per the latest recorded factory-gate rates dated 26 July 2026, Arian Foulad 10 mm A3 rebar stood at 70,640 tomans, 12 mm at 69,360 tomans and 14 mm at 69,270 tomans per kilogram. The main driver here in the days ahead is the exchange rate: a falling dollar typically pulls down the pricing ceiling for steel products with a one to two week lag. Full rates on our iron and steel page.
Cars
The car market stayed in a trading slump on Sunday 26 July, with market reports describing "another retreat in prices"; a significant share of assembled models fell while some domestically produced models posted limited increases. Sellers give the same explanation: buyers are holding back amid political and economic uncertainty. That behaviour is consistent with the currency market's logic; when the dollar is expected to fall further, car buyers wait too.
Building materials
Cement prices held flat on 26 July 2026: Portland type 2 bulk cement from Tehran Cement at 4,014,000 tomans and from Abyek Cement at 3,673,000 tomans per tonne. In 50 kg bags, Tehran priced at 218,000 tomans, Saveh at 250,000 tomans and Abyek at 258,000 tomans. The determining factor in this market over the summer is factory energy quotas, not demand.
Regional and global backdrop
The biggest event ahead for global markets is the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee meeting on Wednesday. The prevailing market expectation is that rates hold at this meeting with a possible move in September; some traders price that probability near 80 percent. The channel to Tehran is indirect but real: a higher-yielding global dollar puts downward pressure on spot gold, and through the ounce it reaches domestic gold prices.
In energy, Brent crude stood at $88.12 as of 00:07 today, after a marked retreat that accompanied the draining of the Strait of Hormuz risk premium; for Iran that is simultaneously negative revenue news and positive inflation news. In global FX, the euro traded at 1.1403 against the dollar (up 0.28 percent) and the dollar at 163.58 against the yen (as of 08:00 this morning). On the regional beats, our latest recorded rates are 47.3456 for the Turkish lira against the dollar and 6.7703 for the Chinese yuan (both as of 24 July 2026); the yuan connects to Iran's economy through crude purchases and the lira through border trade.
The takeaway
Yesterday's verdict is clear: it was the equity market's day, not gold's. The main index rose 2.20 percent while 18-karat gold fell 2.1 percent and the dollar 1.72 percent, which means money moved from the parallel market onto the exchange floor rather than new wealth being created. If one thing from this brief should stick, it is this: spot gold went up yesterday. So the fall in domestic gold was not a gold-market story, it was a currency-market story, and anything that turns the exchange rate around will run this same path in reverse.
What to watch today
- Gold bullion auction margin deadline: today, Monday 27 July, is the last chance to deposit 5 billion tomans per bar for the 152nd gold bullion auction, held tomorrow, Tuesday 28 July, from 14:00 to 17:00.
- Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI): the whole-economy PMI report for Tir 1405 data is released, per its usual cadence, in the first days of Mordad.
- Durability of the five million level: today's question is whether the index consolidates above the mark or slips back as it did in July; the direction of retail money in the first trading hour is usually the earliest signal.
- Federal Reserve meeting: Wednesday's decision and the tone of the statement will set the path for spot gold, and therefore domestic gold, through the rest of the week.
- Diplomatic headlines: any fresh message out of the Muscat talks lands first on the free-market dollar rate, not on the Exchange Center rate.
This report is a review of market data and is not a buy or sell recommendation. Every figure carries its own reference time, and rates change through the day.
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