Market Pulse, Midday Friday, August 14, 2026: Brent Hits the $88 Range After an Attack on Two ADNOC Ships in the Strait of Hormuz, Near a 4% Weekly Gain

Lead

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs said early Friday, August 14, 2026, that two ships linked to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) were attacked on Thursday evening while transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Abu Dhabi called it "piracy" and said it threatens global energy security. It is the second attack on ADNOC vessels in a week. Brent crude jumped into the $88 range on the news, and per global market reports, both Brent and WTI are on course for weekly gains near 4%. In the same hours, global gold fell, but Tehran's gold and coin market got more expensive, according to the Tehran Gold and Jewelry Union. Tehran's bourse and the free currency market stayed quiet, both closed for the weekend.

Today at a Glance

Today's Top Headlines

• UAE Foreign Ministry: Iran targeted two ADNOC ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday evening, the second such incident in a week (Al Jazeera, Friday, Aug 14).
• Global gold spot slipped to roughly $4,325 to $4,335, yet Tehran's gold and coin market got more expensive, per the Tehran Gold and Jewelry Union (Ecoiran, Friday, Aug 14).
• Tether said it completed its first full financial audit, receiving an "unqualified opinion" from KPMG (CoinDesk, Friday, Aug 14).
• Iran's oil output rose by 26,000 barrels per day in July 2026 to reach 2.478 million barrels per day (Bourse News, citing OPEC, Friday, Aug 14).
• Iran's government announced new natural-gas feedstock prices for petrochemical plants, refineries and steelmakers for the current year (Bourse News, Friday, Aug 14).

Currency

Tehran's free currency market was last active on Tuesday, August 11, when the dollar jumped 1.19% to 187,800 tomans. The Iran Exchange Center's (agreed-rate) dollar rate stood at roughly 155,145 tomans to sell and 153,749 tomans to buy in the same window, leaving the gap between the free and agreed rates at around 32,600 tomans. Regionally, the Turkish lira weakened further today to 47.88 per dollar, still trading near its historic low, while the Chinese yuan and the UAE dirham showed no meaningful change against the dollar.

Gold and Coin

Global spot gold fell about 0.4% on Friday to the $4,325 to $4,335 range. Even so, per the Tehran Gold and Jewelry Union (via Ecoiran), every domestic gold and coin item rose today: 18-karat gold reached 19,084,500 tomans per gram and 24-karat gold reached 25,443,000 tomans; the Emami coin reached 190,000,000 tomans, the half-coin 97,000,000 tomans and the quarter-coin 53,500,000 tomans. This divergence has the market's usual explanation: domestic gold prices track the dollar rate and a domestic risk premium on top of the global ounce, and the same risk premium that lifted oil today also supported domestic gold. The last reading of the Emami coin premium, recorded Tuesday, Aug 11, stood at about 4,227,000 tomans; no fresher figure is available today.

Bourse and Farabourse

Tehran's bourse and Farabourse trade Saturday through Wednesday and are closed today, Friday. The last session recorded in Sahmino's system is Tuesday, August 11. TEDPIX gained 1.46% (82,308 points) that day to close at 5,736,485 points; the equal-weight index rose 1.11% to 1,604,844 points, and the Farabourse index (IFX) rose 1.1% to 45,929 points. On a weekly basis, TEDPIX has climbed roughly 6% from 5,407,901 points at Wednesday, Aug 5's close to last Tuesday's close, extending its recent rally. The market reopens Saturday, Aug 15, with names such as Mobarakeh Steel, which resumed trading after a long halt, back on the board.

Crypto

Bitcoin is trading near $63,023 today, down about 0.7%, and Ethereum near $1,875, down a similar amount; Tether's domestic rial rate is essentially flat at 1,870,250 rials. The bigger story is a trust-building one: Tether said it completed its first full financial audit of the assets backing its $180 billion USDT stablecoin, receiving an "unqualified opinion" from Big Four auditor KPMG. On the other side, the US Securities and Exchange Commission postponed its hearing on new crypto rules known as "Reg Crypto" without setting a new date.

Steel

The factory price of A3 ribbed rebar, size 14 (Aryan Steel), stood at 68,640 tomans per kilogram today, Friday, Aug 14, while the same grade's last competitive base price on the Iran Mercantile Exchange, set Tuesday, Aug 11, was about 67,563 tomans, meaning the open market trades roughly 1.6% above the exchange settlement. The government simultaneously announced new natural-gas feedstock prices for petrochemical plants, refineries and steelmakers for the current year, which will feed directly into steel production costs in the months ahead. Mobarakeh Steel's share, which resumed trading last Wednesday after roughly five months on hold, still stands about 10.6% below its last real pre-war trade.

Cars

Per Khabaronline (citing Eghtesad Online), the pace of car-price growth in the Tehran market has slowed today, with limited movement in Iran Khodro and Saipa models. The Saipa Pride 151 GX, 1405 model, trades around 1,150,000,000 tomans in the free market today, while the 1404 model of the same car trades around 1,100,000,000 tomans, a gap driven mostly by general inflation rather than a fresh price jump.

Building Materials

The price of a 50-kilogram bag of Tehran cement remains flat at 291,000 tomans today, the same level that has held since Aug 8, unchanged for a week. Abyek cement is cheaper, around 289,000 tomans, and Saveh cement runs around 260,000 tomans a bag. The last Iran Mercantile Exchange settlement for bagged Type 2 (42.5) cement, recorded Tuesday, Aug 11, worked out to about 39,496 rials per kilogram.

Regional and Global View

In the US, the S&P 500 closed Thursday up 0.65% at 7,798.99, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.81% to 26,803 and the Dow Jones rose 0.13% to 53,839, all near recent record territory. Turkey's foreign minister today called for an "urgent solution" to the Strait of Hormuz crisis, citing its damaging effect on global trade and energy. Vladimir Putin warned that if European countries seize tankers from Russia's shadow fleet, Russia will seize European ships in return, a warning that also raises geopolitical risk in Europe's energy market. The Turkish lira, meanwhile, remains near its historic low against the dollar.

Bottom Line

Today was a day of geopolitical risk premium, not a day for the bourse or the dollar: the Strait of Hormuz was the scene of an incident again, oil moved toward a nearly 4% weekly gain because of it, and domestic gold, despite the drop in the global ounce, priced in that same risk premium. Tehran's bourse and free currency market sat this move out simply because they were closed, but both carry last week's records into Saturday. One thing worth remembering: when oil and domestic gold move together while the global ounce moves the other way, it is usually a regional story, not a global one, behind it.

What to Watch Today

• Tehran's bourse and Farabourse reopening Saturday, Aug 15, and how the market reacts to last week's records.
• Further developments in the Strait of Hormuz after the second attack on ADNOC ships in a week, and its effect on oil.
• How the domestic gold market responds to global spot gold's weekend swings.
• The three new gasoline-distribution scenarios the oil ministry has floated, and when one gets finalized.