As the Global Dollar Nears a Multi Month Low, Gold Holds Near a Three Month High and Bitcoin Nears $80,000; Tehran's 18 Karat Gold Hits a Record 21,746,400 Tomans (Market Pulse, Morning, Friday, 6 Shahrivar 1405)

1. The Lead

Gold, the global dollar and bitcoin are telling one connected story this morning, Friday, 6 Shahrivar 1405 (August 28, 2026); the Tehran Stock Exchange and Farabourse, meanwhile, are closed under their weekly trading calendar (Saturday to Wednesday). According to Ecoiran, citing Kitco News, in a report published this morning, spot gold traded in the $4,590 to $4,600 range on Thursday, 5 Shahrivar, its highest level in more than three months, up roughly 15 percent for August. UBS analysts have called the move a "debasement trade," a pattern in which capital shifts out of dollar linked assets into gold, commodities and bitcoin. Sahmino's own live feed put spot gold at $4,580.42 this morning, down 0.49 percent from the prior day, meaning gold has eased slightly off its peak but remains in the upper part of its three month range. At the same time, according to Trading Economics, the US Dollar Index stood at 99.18 today, down 1.69 percent over the past month, keeping the dollar near its lowest range in several months; markets today are watching Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium. Bitcoin traded at $79,862 this morning, nearing the $80,000 mark. The global move has had a clear echo in Tehran: 18 karat gold reached 21,746,400 tomans per gram yesterday evening, up 3.37 percent from a week earlier (TGJU).

2. Today's Snapshot

3. Today's Top Headlines

• Global gold reached its highest level in more than three months and bitcoin climbed into the $77,000 to $80,000 range; analysts are calling the move a "debasement trade" (Ecoiran, citing Kitco News, Friday, 6 Shahrivar).
• The combined value of Iran's stock markets, including the Tehran Stock Exchange, Farabourse and the base market, crossed 21,000 trillion tomans for the first time, reaching 21,498 trillion tomans; all 40 industry indices except publishing and printing rose in the first week of Shahrivar (Boursenews, Wednesday, 4 Shahrivar).
• Another tanker, a Liberian flagged Aframax carrying 704,000 barrels of jet fuel, was struck by a projectile on Tuesday in waters between Iran and Oman; commodity vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell to 5 a day, against a 10 day average of 15 (UKMTO, cited by Oilprice.com, Thursday, 5 Shahrivar).
• Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) held its second tender this week to sell Basrah crude via ship to ship transfer near Oman, outside the Strait of Hormuz; the tender closes today, Friday (Reuters, cited by Zawya, Thursday, 5 Shahrivar).
• Point to point inflation for Mordad 1405 reached 89 percent, and the inflation gap between the highest and lowest income deciles widened to 10.7 percentage points (Iran's Statistical Center, Friday, 6 Shahrivar).

4. Currency

In the free market, the dollar stood at 200,600 tomans yesterday evening on Sahmino's own feed; Donya-e-Eqtesad put the same day's rate at 201,960 tomans. Against that, the official negotiated dollar rate at Iran's Currency and Gold Exchange Center was 158,039 tomans (sell) and 156,616 tomans (buy) yesterday; the gap between the free market and official rates is close to 44,000 tomans, or about 28 percent. The free market euro traded at 233,700 to 233,850 tomans, and the remittance euro at 184,129 tomans. The remittance UAE dirham rose to 43,033 tomans, while the free market dirham eased slightly to 54,320 tomans; the British pound traded at 272,660 tomans and the Turkish lira at 4,200 tomans in the domestic market (all Donya-e-Eqtesad, Thursday, 5 Shahrivar). One notable point is the divergence between the global and domestic dollar: while the US Dollar Index has fallen 1.69 percent over the past month, Tehran's free market dollar has stayed on an upward path, a sign that the domestic exchange rate is driven more by Iran's own supply, demand and inflation expectations than by the dollar's direction in global markets.

5. Gold and Coins

Spot gold stood at $4,580.42 this morning, down 0.49 percent from the prior day and slightly below Thursday's $4,590 to $4,600 range, which Kitco News called the highest level in more than three months; gold has gained roughly 15 percent for August overall. UBS analysts have set a price target of $5,400 by next summer, though Forex.com's Fawad Razaqzada has warned the market looks somewhat overbought. In the domestic market, 18 karat gold rose 0.32 percent to 21,746,400 tomans per gram yesterday evening; according to TGJU, that is up 3.37 percent from a week earlier (Saturday, 31 Mordad) and more than 20 percent higher than three months ago. 24 karat gold traded at 28,994,900 tomans and one mesghal at 94,195,000 tomans. The Emami coin held steady at 216,010,000 tomans, the Bahar Azadi coin eased 0.14 percent to 212,280,000 tomans, the half coin traded at 109,000,000 tomans and the quarter coin at 59,000,000 tomans (all Sahmino's own feed, yesterday evening).

6. Tehran Stock Exchange and Farabourse

The Tehran Stock Exchange and Farabourse, two separate markets with two independent indices, are closed today, Friday, under their weekly calendar (Saturday to Wednesday). In the last trading session, Wednesday, 4 Shahrivar, TEDPIX gained 162,698 points (2.61 percent) to a record 6,386,577 points, and the equal weight index rose 2.13 percent to 1,802,773 points; trade value that day was close to 32.8 trillion tomans. The Farabourse index (IFX) also rose 1.95 percent that day to 50,679.5 points. According to Boursenews, the combined value of Iran's stock markets, including the Tehran Stock Exchange, Farabourse and the base market, crossed 21,000 trillion tomans for the first time in history at the close of that session, reaching 21,498 trillion tomans; of that, 18,255 trillion tomans was the Tehran Stock Exchange alone, and 3,243 trillion tomans was Farabourse and the base market combined. The same report said all 40 active industry indices except publishing and printing rose in the first week of Shahrivar; the average weekly industry gain reached 7.8 percent, with coal up 15.7 percent and other mining up 15.4 percent leading the pack, and 24 industries closed at all time highs. The Tehran Stock Exchange reopens Saturday, 7 Shahrivar.

7. Crypto

Bitcoin eased 0.19 percent to $79,862 this morning, returning close to the $80,000 mark; the level follows a pullback from last week's record near $81,250 and a strong rebound Sahmino covered in a separate report yesterday. Ether eased 0.48 percent to $2,490.70. Tether against the toman traded at 200,327 tomans today, tracking the free market dollar closely. According to Arzdigital, altcoins' share of trading volume on the Binance exchange reached 65 percent at the peak of the recent crypto rally, the highest in two years; over the same period bitcoin held 21 percent of volume and ether 13.6 percent, and total altcoin market value excluding ether rose by about $135 billion. The Altcoin Vector platform's "Altcoin Impulse" index reached 93 percent, which the platform said typically signals an overextended move and a higher chance of a pause or repricing. Separately, the US government moved a portion of seized Bitcoin linked to Alameda Research and the bankrupt FTX exchange on Wednesday; tracking platform Arkham said the transfer is not necessarily a sign of a sale.

8. Iron and Steel

On the Iran Mercantile Exchange, the latest settlement price for A3 rebar, sizes 14 to 20, was 74,384 tomans per kilogram in Wednesday's, 4 Shahrivar, session, and sizes 22 to 32 settled at 76,203 tomans per kilogram. Factory prices from Aryan Foolad on Thursday stayed close to that range and quiet: A3 rebar, size 10, around 75,450 tomans per kilogram, and size 14 around 74,090 tomans per kilogram. Shanghai rebar, used as a global benchmark, rose 0.61 percent today to 3,123 yuan per ton. With the commodity exchange closed today, the market awaits Saturday's session.

9. Vehicles

According to Donya-e-Eqtesad, Iran's free car market entered a correction phase on Thursday after several days of notable gains. The automatic Dena Plus fell 90 million tomans to 2,960,000,000 tomans; the automatic turbo Tara dropped 60 million tomans and the automatic Shahin Plus 55 million tomans. Among economy models, the dual fuel Saina fell 20 million tomans and the base Quick S fell 10 million tomans, trading at 1,470,000,000 and 1,255,000,000 tomans respectively. Among assembled imports, the Lucano L8 posted the largest drop, down 400 million tomans to 9,900,000,000 tomans. Donya-e-Eqtesad attributed the pullback to cooling buying momentum following dollar and gold swings early in the day, though the free market dollar rate ended that same day higher than the previous day; the dollar's trajectory in the coming days will determine whether this correction continues.

10. Building Materials

On the Iran Mercantile Exchange, the settlement price for Type 2 (42.5) bulk cement was 2,697 tomans per kilogram in Wednesday's session, with a 50 kilogram bag settling at the equivalent of 194,227 tomans. In the retail market, a 50 kilogram bag of Type 2 cement cost about 289,000 tomans from Abyk Cement, 291,000 tomans from Tehran Cement and 260,000 tomans from Saveh Cement, meaning retail bag prices run roughly 30 to 50 percent above the exchange settled price for the same bag. With the commodity exchange closed today, that gap holds unchanged until Saturday's session.

11. Regional and Global Outlook

Brent crude eased 1.65 percent to $88.14 this morning. On Wall Street overnight, the S&P 500 rose 0.72 percent to 7,730.99 points and the Nasdaq jumped 1.57 percent to 26,541.35 points. The US Dollar Index has fallen 1.69 percent over the past month and is near its lowest range in several months; according to Trading Economics, today's catalyst is Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium. The Chinese yuan held relatively steady at 6.7206 per dollar, while the Turkish lira extended its weakening trend, down 0.21 percent to 48.2354 per dollar. In the Strait of Hormuz, UK Maritime Trade Operations and maritime tracker Windward reported that another tanker, a Liberian flagged Aframax carrying 704,000 barrels of jet fuel, was struck by a projectile on Tuesday, and commodity vessel traffic fell to 5 a day, against a 10 day average of 15; about 65 percent of oil exports through the strait are bound for China. Separately, Iraq's SOMO held its second tender this week to sell Basrah crude via ship to ship transfer near the Omani coast, outside the Strait of Hormuz, closing today, Friday, a sign of regional exporters working around strait risk. Meanwhile, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) posted a 23.4 percent rise in first half profit to $12.9 billion; the main driver was a 23.6 percent rise in its average realized oil price to $85.49 a barrel, a trend that Oilprice.com said took hold after the Iran war began.

12. The Bottom Line

Today was a day for gold and bitcoin against the global dollar, not for the Tehran Stock Exchange, which remains closed. Global gold held near its three month high, bitcoin neared $80,000, and that move echoed in Tehran's own 18 karat gold record of 21,746,400 tomans; the point worth remembering is that Iran's domestic dollar, unlike the global dollar, has kept moving its own way, closing last week higher rather than lower.

13. What to Watch Today

• Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium today, Friday, the main catalyst for the dollar index and global gold's next move.
• The deadline for Iraq's SOMO second tender this week to sell Basrah crude outside the Strait of Hormuz, today, Friday.
• The Tehran Stock Exchange and Farabourse reopening Saturday, 7 Shahrivar, after a record breaking week and the market's total value crossing 21,000 trillion tomans; the main question is whether that momentum continues.
• The free market dollar's trajectory in the coming days, which will determine whether the car market's recent correction continues or ends.

For live dollar and gold prices, visit Sahmino's dollar price page and 18 karat gold page; for a full recap of the Tehran Stock Exchange's record breaking week, see yesterday's Market Pulse. For upcoming economic events, follow Sahmino's market calendar.