Iran Market Pulse: Saturday Midday, July 11, 2026; Tehran Stock Exchange Sheds 2.12% at Week's Reopening

Tehran's stock market faced its first test against two days of Iran-US military escalation and a simultaneous dollar surge in the week's opening session, Saturday, July 11, 2026 (20 Tir 1405): the main index (TEDPIX) fell 109,826 points, or 2.12%, to 5,177,030 by 10:58 AM Tehran time, while the over-the-counter index (IFX) dropped 599 points (1.5%) to 39,937. Heavy sell queues formed in high-volume symbols from the opening minutes, as the free-market dollar held in the 182,000 to 182,500 toman band and Iran's foreign minister departed for Muscat to discuss the Strait of Hormuz.

Today at a Glance

Today's Headlines

• TEDPIX fell 2.12% (109,826 points) to 5,177,030 by 10:58 AM Tehran time today, with the OTC index down 1.5% (Sahmino live data, Saturday, July 11).
• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi departed for Muscat today for talks on the Strait of Hormuz and shipping security; Washington has demanded Iran publicly declare the strait open by the end of today (Xinhua and Arab News, Saturday, July 11).
• No large tracked vessel has transited the Strait of Hormuz since Tuesday, July 7; Bloomberg reports nearly 6,000 seafarers are now stranded aboard hundreds of stalled vessels in the region (Friday, July 10).
• OPEC+ agreed at its July 5 (5 Tir) meeting to a 188,000-barrel-per-day production adjustment effective August, with Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Iraq among the participants (OPEC).
• Global gold held near $4,121 an ounce this morning while the US Dollar Index (DXY) slipped for a third straight session despite the military tensions (Trading Economics, Friday, July 10).

Currency

The free-market dollar, which broke through the 180,000-toman channel early Thursday, July 9 (18 Tir), has held in the 182,000 to 182,500 toman band through this Saturday morning, as Sahmino's Market Pulse reported this morning. The official "agreed" rate at Iran's Currency and Gold Exchange Center (sell rate) was recorded at 149,149 tomans at 8:19 AM today, up 169 tomans (0.11%) from 148,980 tomans on Thursday; the gap between the two rates therefore remains around 33,000 tomans, close to 18%. The jump coincided with the effective halt of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz since Tuesday, July 7, and rising risk to the country's foreign-currency earnings; the central bank has not issued a fresh statement so far.

Gold & Coin

18-karat gold per gram reached 17,936,900 tomans on Thursday evening, and domestic media confirm it has since edged toward the 18-million-toman channel. The Emami coin traded at 181,485,000 tomans in the same window, carrying a premium (the gap between the coin's market price and its melt value) of 5,101,000 tomans, near 2.8% of its price, smaller than last week's premium, a sign the coin's recent rise is coming more from the falling rial than from domestic speculative demand. Global spot gold held at $4,121 an ounce this morning (up 0.24%), while Reuters reports silver and platinum rallied alongside gold on Friday amid Hormuz-driven safe-haven demand: silver rose 0.62% to $60.32 an ounce and platinum climbed 0.75% ($12) into the $1,621 to $1,631 range, a sign the safe-haven bid has spread beyond gold to precious metals broadly. Live rates are available on Sahmino's gold price page.

Stocks

Tehran's stock exchange, after closing its last session, Wednesday, July 8 (17 Tir), down 0.47% at 5,286,856 points, opened the week's first session today, exactly two days after the US struck close to 90 targets across five Iranian provinces over two consecutive days, killing at least 14 and wounding 78 according to Iran's health ministry, and Iran responded with missile and drone strikes on US bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Jordan. By 10:58 AM, TEDPIX had fallen 109,826 points to 5,177,030 and the IFX had dropped 599 points to 39,937. Heavy sell queues formed in high-volume symbols from the opening minutes; export-driven and petrochemical names such as Fars and Fmelli (NICICO), which also bore the heaviest selling pressure last week, are leading the sellers' queue, as the foreign-currency-earnings risk from the Hormuz shipping halt targets those names directly. Today's drop extends a two-to-three-week pattern of real-money (retail) outflow rather than marking an isolated event: on Sunday, July 5 (7 Tir), 7.2 trillion tomans in real money exited the stock market in a single session. The past week's sharp swings were visible earlier too: TEDPIX rose 2.4% on Tuesday, July 7 (16 Tir) on optimism over the temporary ceasefire, only to reverse the following Wednesday, hours after Trump called the ceasefire "over." Full details of today's market reaction are available in Sahmino's dedicated report.

Crypto

Bitcoin traded at $64,216 at 10:57 AM today (up $506, or 0.79%), and Ethereum reached $1,800 (up $10, or 0.56%); both are extending bitcoin's nearly 10% July rally, which Forbes and Yahoo Finance attribute mainly to expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts under new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh and a weak US June jobs report (just 57,000 new jobs). The Tether-toman rate stood at 178,250 tomans at 11:00 AM, slightly below the free-market dollar. Two upcoming events could move global crypto markets in the days ahead: the US Congressional committee hearing on the CLARITY Act on July 17 (26 Tir), and the release of US consumer inflation data on July 14 (23 Tir).

Steel

In the rebar market, Aryan Steel's factory price this morning stood at 67,270 tomans per kilogram for size-10 grade-A3 bars and 65,910 tomans for size-14 grade-A3 bars, close to last week's levels with no notable jump alongside the dollar. Market participants attribute this relative stability more to Iran Mercantile Exchange supply controls than to weaker demand; still, with the dollar's continued rise, upward pressure on imported input costs and export billet prices remains the key driver to watch in this market in the days ahead.

Cars

In the car market, per Sahmino's latest recorded data, Saipa's new-model Pride 151 GX traded at 1,150,000,000 tomans, the SE model at 1,050,000,000 tomans, and last year's GX model at 1,100,000,000 tomans; these figures were recorded before last week's military escalation and the concurrent dollar jump. Given the historical correlation between the car market's margin (the gap between factory and free-market prices) and currency swings, the risk of that gap widening again in coming sessions has risen; the Competition Council's dispute with the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade over whether the 15% factory-price increase is adequate remains open with regulators.

Building Materials

In the materials market, Type 2 Portland cement in 50-kilogram bags traded this morning at 218,000 tomans for the Tehran brand, 250,000 tomans for Saveh, and 258,000 tomans for Abyek; bulk Abyek cement traded at 3,673,000 tomans and bulk Tehran cement at 4,014,000 tomans, both little changed from last week. This market continues to look more resilient to sharp currency and metals swings than other sectors; Iran Mercantile Exchange supply controls are the main driver of that relative stability, though a sustained dollar rise could push up energy and freight costs for cement production in the weeks ahead.

Regional & Global Backdrop

Brent crude traded at $76.01 this morning, after a week in which the attack on three commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on the night of July 7 (16 Tir) and the effective halt in shipping had driven it up nearly 5%; West Texas Intermediate traded around $72. OPEC+ agreed at its July 5 meeting to adjust oil output by 188,000 barrels per day starting in August, a decision involving Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Iraq. The US Dollar Index (DXY) stayed low, in the 100.9 to 101 range, for a third straight session, as hopes for continued Iran-US diplomatic talks, despite the military escalation, curbed safe-haven demand for the dollar. Regionally, the Turkish lira traded at 47.1 per dollar this morning (up 0.22%) and the Chinese yuan at 6.78 per dollar; China, Iran's largest oil buyer, remains the main channel for Iran's sanctioned oil exports settled in yuan even as Washington has again revoked oil-sanctions waivers, though Sahmino has reported that China's imports of Iranian crude fell by more than half in June. The Iraqi dinar, per the latest interbank rate recorded Friday, stood at 1,308.2 dinars per dollar; Iraq's central bank buys dollars from the finance ministry at 1,300 dinars and sells them to banks at 1,310 dinars.

What to Watch Today

• TEDPIX's final reading at today's market close, 12:30 PM Tehran time.
• The outcome of Iran's foreign minister's talks in Muscat on the Strait of Hormuz and shipping security.
• Iran's possible response to the US demand to publicly declare the Strait of Hormuz open by the end of today.
• Any central bank reaction to the free-market dollar holding in the 182,000-toman channel.
• The US Congressional committee hearing on the CLARITY Act on July 17 (26 Tir) and its effect on the crypto market. More events on Sahmino's market calendar.