Emami Coin's Premium, Days After Spiking, Shrank 16.6 Percent Overnight; Iran Market Pulse, Midday Sunday, August 16, 2026

Lead

Less than two weeks after jumping more than 50 percent on the evening of Wednesday, 21 Mordad 1405 (August 12, 2026), the Emami gold coin's premium (the gap between its market price and its intrinsic bullion value) fell 16.61 percent, or about 602,000 tomans, on the evening of Saturday, 24 Mordad (August 15), to 3,625,000 tomans. According to the Tehran Gold and Jewelry Union (via EcoIran), confirmed by TGJU, Tehran's gold and coin market was broadly lower again on the morning of Sunday, 25 Mordad (August 16). At the same time on the Tehran Stock Exchange, the main index (TEDPIX) was essentially flat at midday Sunday versus Saturday's close, while the equal weighted index rose nearly 1.1 percent and Farabourse gained nearly 1.3 percent, leading today's advance, a divergence suggesting today's money went toward mid and small cap names rather than the large index heavyweights.

Today's Snapshot

Today's Top Headlines

• The Emami coin's premium shrank 16.6 percent in a single day, and Tehran's gold and coin market was broadly lower Sunday morning (Tehran Gold and Jewelry Union via EcoIran, 25 Mordad / Aug 16).
• TEDPIX rose 6.1 percent in the week ending Wednesday, 21 Mordad (Aug 12), its third straight weekly gain, crossing 5,700,000 points, with its year to date return reaching 54 percent (Boursenews, 25 Mordad / Aug 16).
• Saturday's fresh intraday record for TEDPIX was erased by selling pressure, and retail investors withdrew more than 2,400 billion tomans from the stock market (Donya-e-Eqtesad, 25 Mordad / Aug 16).
• US Central Command (CENTCOM) says 62 commercial ships have rerouted since 23 Tir (July 14), when Washington resumed its naval blockade of Iranian ports (EcoIran, 25 Mordad / Aug 16).
• Arfa Steel commissioned an oxygen injection system at its direct reduction unit, raising output capacity by about 10 percent (Boursenews, 24 Mordad / Aug 15).

Currency

Tehran's free market dollar fell 0.43 percent (about 800 tomans) from the prior day to around 187,000 tomans on the evening of Saturday, 24 Mordad; TGJU confirmed the same level, essentially unchanged, on Sunday morning. Against it, the official "agreed" (tavafoqi) rate at Iran's Currency and Gold Exchange Center rose 0.17 percent Sunday morning to 155,428 tomans; the gap between the two rates remains about 31,600 tomans, or close to 20 percent. Toman denominated Tether also traded lower Sunday morning, down 0.24 percent to 186,716 tomans, slightly below the free market dollar. Elsewhere in the free currency market, the Turkish lira, which hit a fresh record low of 47.76 per dollar last Wednesday, held in the same weak range around 47.84 on Friday; the weak lira remains a cost driver for Iranian importers who settle goods routed through Turkey. Readers curious how Iraq's daily dollar auction feeds into Tehran's currency market can read Sahmino's explainer on Baghdad's daily auction.

Gold and Coin

Tehran's gold and coin market was broadly lower on the morning of Sunday, 25 Mordad. According to the Tehran Gold and Jewelry Union (via EcoIran), global spot gold stood at $4,376 an ounce, the mesghal rate was 82,470,000 tomans, 18 karat gold traded around 19,038,000 tomans per gram and 24 karat gold at 25,381,000 tomans. The new design Emami coin traded at 189,500,000 tomans and the old design at 188,000,000 tomans. But the day's number is the coin's premium: per Sahmino's own price data, corroborated by TGJU, the gap between the Emami coin's market price and its intrinsic value fell to 3,625,000 tomans on Saturday evening, down 16.61 percent (about 602,000 tomans) from the prior day, and sharply below its recent record, the more than 50 percent overnight jump last Wednesday, 21 Mordad, that had pushed the premium above 4,000,000 tomans. A narrowing like this usually comes from either higher coin supply, including Exchange Center auctions, or from cooling speculative demand after a sharp spike; today's data alone does not settle which, and the next auctions bear watching to confirm the trend. Readers wanting the mechanics of those Exchange Center auctions can read Sahmino's lesson on coin and bullion auctions at the Exchange Center.

Stocks and Farabourse

Bourse and Farabourse are two separate exchanges with two separate indices, and today their paths diverged. TEDPIX stood at 5,731,851 points as of 10:59 Sunday, down 4,797 points (0.08 percent) from Saturday's close, essentially unchanged, while the equal weighted index jumped 18,300 points (1.14 percent) to 1,624,740, and the Farabourse main index rose 582.5 points (1.25 percent) to 46,639; both are outperforming TEDPIX, a sign that today's demand favored mid and small cap names over the large index heavyweights. The divergence follows a powerful week: per Boursenews, TEDPIX rose 6.1 percent in the week ending Wednesday, 21 Mordad, its third consecutive weekly gain, crossing 5,700,000 points to a fresh all time high; the equal weighted index gained 4.6 percent the same week, its fourth straight green week. TEDPIX's year to date return has reached 54 percent and the equal weighted index's 68 percent, the exchange's best annual performance since 1399. But per Donya-e-Eqtesad, TEDPIX's fresh intraday record of 5,771,000 points, touched in the opening minutes of Saturday's session, was erased as sellers increased supply through the session, and the index retreated to near flat; in that same session retail investors withdrew more than 2,400 billion tomans from the stock market, while fixed income funds simultaneously saw outflows too. Sahmino's own trading data for Saturday likewise shows net individual selling on the bourse board by volume. After three weeks of retail inflows (nearly 5,400 billion tomans over the most recent week), this is the first clear sign of profit taking at these levels; whether the rest of the week confirms that pullback, or today's equal weighted strength signals renewed demand, remains to be seen.

Crypto

Bitcoin traded at $63,065 as of 10:59 Tehran time Sunday, down a marginal 0.03 percent, a slight improvement from Saturday's test of the key $62,500 support. Per ArzDigital, bitcoin faced mounting sell pressure heading into the Gregorian weekend on Saturday and was testing the floor of a five week trading range; spot bitcoin ETFs recorded more than $289 million in outflows between August 5 and 10. Per EcoIran, the crypto market was broadly the loser of last Gregorian week, with Cardano posting the sharpest weekly decline among major cryptocurrencies, down more than 10 percent. Toman denominated Tether traded 0.24 percent lower at 186,716 tomans Sunday morning, slightly below the free market dollar rate, reflecting the usual gap between the Tether and cash dollar markets.

Iron and Steel

In the domestic market, Aryan Steel's A3 rebar, size 14, priced at 69,550 tomans per kilogram Sunday, and its size 10 at 70,910 tomans. By contrast, the Iran Mercantile Exchange's last settlement price for A3 rebar, sizes 14 to 20mm (last traded Tuesday, 20 Mordad), was 67,563 tomans per kilogram, and for sizes 22 to 32mm about 68,872 tomans; that puts factory floor prices roughly two to three percent above the exchange's last discovered price, a gap that typically reflects freight, middleman costs and the wait for the next auction session. On the production side, per Boursenews, Arfa Steel commissioned an oxygen injection system for bustle gas at its direct reduction unit; the company said the project's main results are an output capacity increase of about 10 percent and lower natural gas consumption per ton produced.

Cars

Per Khabaronline, citing Tejaratnews, Iran's car market worked through one of its weakest trading stretches of the Mordad month. Among domestic models, the Sahand E Automatic rose 280 million tomans over the past month to 1.99 billion tomans; by contrast, the Shahin Automatic Plus fell 64 million tomans to 2.586 billion tomans, the Tara Manual V1 fell 182 million tomans to 1.903 billion tomans, and the Soren Plus (XUP) fell 88 million tomans to 1.567 billion tomans. Among assembled models, the Lucano L8 jumped 510 million tomans to 9.33 billion tomans and the X77 Elite rose 370 million tomans to 5 billion tomans, while the KMC Eagle fell 175 million tomans to 2.34 billion tomans. Among the most widely owned budget models, the Saipa Pride 151 GX was priced at 1.15 billion tomans on Sahmino Sunday.

Building Materials

The price of a 50 kilogram bag of Type 2 Portland cement in Tehran and Abyek held Sunday at 291,000 and 289,000 tomans respectively, and in Saveh at 260,000 tomans, levels that per Sahmino's earlier reporting have held for about two weeks. By contrast, the Iran Mercantile Exchange's last settlement price for bagged Type 2 (42.5) cement (Tuesday, 20 Mordad) was near 3,950 tomans per kilogram, which works out to about 197,500 tomans for a 50 kilogram bag; that puts Tehran's retail bag price close to 46 to 47 percent above the exchange's last discovered price, a gap partly explained by distribution, freight and middleman costs.

Regional and Global

Brent crude was $88.52 on Friday, 23 Mordad, up 0.14 percent; per EcoIran, Brent failed to clear $90 over the past Gregorian week but gained more than 5 percent from the week before. The US Dollar Index (DXY) traded near a two month low on Friday, per Trading Economics, a pattern usually associated with firmer global gold. In US equities, the S&P 500 closed the week's last session (Friday, 23 Mordad) down 0.17 percent at 7,786 points, and the Nasdaq fell 0.28 percent to near 26,729 in the same session. To Iran's west, the Turkish lira held in the same weak range around 47.84 on Friday after hitting a fresh record low of 47.76 per dollar last Wednesday; the weak lira makes goods imported via Turkey more expensive for Iranian rial based buyers. In the Persian Gulf, US Central Command says 62 commercial ships have rerouted since 23 Tir (July 14), when Washington resumed its naval blockade of Iranian ports, raising the cost and time of shipping goods to Iran, a channel that continues to show up as a risk premium in imported goods prices.

Wrap-up

Unlike recent weeks, today was not a day for gold and the dollar; the Emami coin's premium, only days after jumping more than 50 percent, collapsed 16.6 percent overnight, and the broader gold and coin market was lower. On the Tehran Stock Exchange, the main index, despite three straight weeks of records, essentially stalled today; but instead of leaving the market, money rotated into mid and small cap names, lifting the equal weighted and Farabourse indices. The one thing to remember: when an asset's premium inflates fast, it can deflate just as fast, and one index's record is no guarantee of tomorrow's.

What to Watch Today

• Two IPOs, Ghanoush and Silva, are scheduled on Farabourse today, Sunday, 25 Mordad (Aug 16).
• Friday, 30 Mordad (Aug 21), Sahmino's market calendar also lists a market holiday marking the martyrdom of Imam Hasan Askari.
• Wednesday, 28 Mordad (Aug 19), Trump hosts Coinbase, Ripple and Kraken executives at the White House, and the CFTC's Crypto Innovation Advisory Committee holds its first session, an event that could move global crypto prices.
• In the days ahead, several listed and Farabourse companies hold general assemblies, including Kherman, Behtehran and Mapna; details on Sahmino's market calendar.