Market Pulse, Midday Monday, Shahrivar 2, 1405; The Dollar Crosses 201,000 Tomans and TEDPIX Sets a Fresh Record, Hours After Bessent Announces Washington's Largest Economic Attack on Iran

Lead

Hours after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said early on Monday, Shahrivar 2, 1405 (August 24, 2026) that Washington was launching what he called its "largest economic attack" on Iran (per Donya-e-Eqtesad, citing Mehr), Tehran's markets showed an unusually aligned reaction. The free market dollar on Sahmino's own price board reached 201,810 tomans at 11:04 today, extending last night's move past the 200,000 toman mark for the first time in its history. Eighteen karat gold jumped 2.63 percent to a fresh record at the same time, and the Tehran Stock Exchange's headline index, far from being left behind by gold and the dollar, was up 0.58 percent as of the same hour, at 6,105,427 points, a third straight day of record levels. On the other side of the ledger, oil is trading down 1.5 to 2.2 percent, with markets staying cautious ahead of the full details of the new US sanctions package.

Today at a Glance

Today's Top Headlines

• Bessent announced the start of the "largest economic attack" on Iran in history; Mohsen Rezaei warned that if the economic war continues, oil exports through Hormuz and the whole Persian Gulf would be cut off (Donya-e-Eqtesad, citing Mehr, early Shahrivar 2).
• The Turkish lira hit an all-time low against the dollar today, crossing 48 to the dollar; it has lost 17.3 percent of its value over the past year (XE.com and Trading Economics, Shahrivar 2).
• Global gold reached its highest level since mid May; the main driver cited is concern over US fiscal sustainability after an expanded Treasury bond buyback programme (Kitco and Trading Economics, early Shahrivar 2).
• Oil is trading down 1.5 to 2.2 percent ahead of Bessent's press conference on new sanctions; US Central Command says it has redirected 70 vessels and disabled 3 under its naval blockade (Oilprice.com, August 23).
• Iran's 154th gold bullion auction will be held Tuesday, Shahrivar 3, at the Exchange Center; registration closes tonight at midnight (Donya-e-Eqtesad, citing Young Journalists Club, Shahrivar 2).

Currency

The free market dollar on Sahmino's own price board reached 201,810 tomans at 11:04 today, Monday, Shahrivar 2, up 1,910 tomans (0.96 percent) from earlier the same day. That continues a move that took the rate above 200,000 tomans for the first time in its history last night, Sunday. On the official channel, Iran's Currency and Gold Exchange Center's NIMA/state dollar rates remain in the range of roughly 155,000 to 157,000 tomans (TGJU, Shahrivar 2); the gap between that official rate and the free market rate stands near 45,000 tomans, about 29 percent, and showed no fundamental change today. Today's dollar jump coincided with the announcement of the new US sanctions package; as noted in yesterday's Market Pulse, the informal market tends to price in the day's risk before the official free rate catches up.

Gold and Coin

Eighteen karat gold on Sahmino's live gold price board reached 22,317,700 tomans per gram at 11:04 today, up 571,300 tomans (2.63 percent) and a fresh record for this purity. The Emami coin also rose 2.29 percent to 223,025,000 tomans, and its premium (the gap between the market price and the coin's intrinsic gold value) reached 2,485,000 tomans. The Tehran Gold and Jewellery Union, in a report Ecoiran carried this morning, had put the gram of 18 karat gold at 21,711,600 tomans and the new design coin at 216,000,000 tomans; the gap between that morning reading and Sahmino's current rate shows the rally continued through the trading session. The move is being fed by two variables at once: the global gold ounce, itself at its highest level since mid May (detailed in the Regional and Global section), and the parallel jump in the free market dollar described above. Unlike many recent days, today's domestic gold rally is being fed by both the global channel and the dollar channel together, not just one of the two.

Tehran Stock Exchange and Farabourse

TEDPIX, which set its second straight record yesterday, Sunday, with a 0.59 percent gain, kept climbing today without a pause: as of 11:04 it had reached 6,105,427 points, up 35,406 points (0.58 percent) from yesterday's close, a third straight record level. That figure is intraday, and whether it holds depends on the 12:30 close. The equal weight index also gained 10,898 points (0.63 percent) to reach 1,741,175 points. Trade value on the bourse has reached roughly 25,792 billion tomans across 645,365 trades so far today. Today's individual versus institutional flow data had not yet been recorded in Sahmino's system at press time; the most recent figure available is from Saturday, Shahrivar 1 (Iranian calendar), when individual money was a net buyer across the whole market.

On the board, DJBR (Djaber Ebn Hayyan Pharmaceutical) is the hottest large name today: it is trading up 12.65 percent on volume running close to 94 times its twenty session average, after opening nearly 3 percent higher yesterday to reach its highest level in a year and log a ninth straight higher close. BHMN (Bahman Group), MAPN (MAPNA Group) and PGDR (Ghadir Petrochemical) are all sitting at their buy queues today, and all three reached their highest levels in a year yesterday; PGDR on volume around 6.2 times its twenty session average, while KHOC and KSHJ are also near their daily caps in buy queues today. Farabourse, which has its own index separate from the Tehran Stock Exchange, is up 95 points (0.19 percent) today at 49,081 points, a smaller but same direction gain, with trade value near 219,000 billion tomans so far. On the assembly front, Asiatech approved a 260 rial per share cash dividend Saturday (a 41 percent payout ratio) and Safars approved 3,520 rials per share (a 92.7 percent payout ratio), both minutes published on codal Saturday; and two Group B companies, Shokam (17 to 36 percent) and Khtoor (36 percent to SAPCO), disclosed product price increases, a sign of margin recovery against cost pressure across several industries at once.

Crypto

Bitcoin was up a mild 0.35 percent at $77,662 as of 10:58 today, and Ethereum was up 0.6 percent at $2,462; a quiet day for global crypto compared with today's double digit jump in domestic gold and the dollar. That calm against the turbulence elsewhere may signal that today's hedging demand is flowing mainly into gold and currency, not crypto.

Iron and Steel

On the Iran Mercantile Exchange, the most recent settlement price for A3 rebar, sizes 14 to 20, traded Wednesday, August 19 (the last session this grade traded through today), was about 70,048 tomans per kilogram. In the free market, Aryan Steel's size 10 A3 rebar is offered today, Monday, at a factory price of 74,550 tomans per kilogram, about 6.4 percent above the exchange's last settled price, though the two figures belong to two different dates (August 19 and 24) and should be read with that caveat. Today's parallel jump in the free market dollar, described in the Currency section, typically feeds through to steel factory prices with a lag of several days.

Cars

Saipa's Pride 151, in the free market today, Monday, is priced between 1.05 billion and 1.15 billion tomans depending on trim. These are daily snapshot figures, and Sahmino's data shows no change from yesterday; in the car market, price reaction to a jump in the free dollar typically lags by several days, unlike gold, which reacts immediately.

Building Materials

On the Iran Mercantile Exchange, Type 2 (42.5) bagged cement traded yesterday, Sunday, at a settlement price near 3,942 tomans per kilogram, and Type 2 (32.5) bagged cement at 4,041 tomans per kilogram. No reliable retail price was available this run to compare against that settlement; this section should be read with that limitation. Building materials had no other reportable development today.

Regional and Global

Oil is trading down 1.5 to 2.2 percent; Oilprice.com put WTI at $85.18 (down 2.16 percent) and Brent at $92.32 (down 2.19 percent) at 21:18 US Central time last night, while Trading Economics' live reading today showed WTI at $85.62 (down 1.66 percent). The pullback follows a gain of more than 5 percent last week and comes ahead of Bessent's press conference on new sanctions, and is described mainly as profit taking. Global gold has meanwhile reached its highest level since mid May; Kitco recorded $4,632.20 (00:08 New York time) and Trading Economics $4,641.17 (up 0.73 percent); the main driver cited is concern over US fiscal sustainability after an expanded long dated Treasury bond buyback programme, which has pushed down bond yields and the dollar index. The dollar index stood at 98.854 in Trading Economics' reading, roughly flat on the day but down 2.64 percent over the month. Markets are now waiting on US personal consumption expenditures inflation data and a Jackson Hole address from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh. In Turkey, the dollar to lira pair hit an all time high today; XE.com put the mid market rate at 48.0764 at 04:10 GMT, with the lira down 17.3 percent against the dollar over the past year, while the Turkish central bank's policy rate stands at 37 percent; for Iranian readers, a cheaper lira means Turkish goods, travel and property cost less for a rial holder, a channel that feeds directly into the cost of cross border trade and travel for Iranian households. In the same window, the UAE-Russia Trade in Services and Investment Agreement formally entered into force, four days after the UAE suspended all trade and financial relations with Iran.

Bottom Line

Today, unlike the usual pattern where the dollar and the stock market move in opposite directions, both rose together: gold hit a record, the dollar crossed 201,000 tomans, and the headline index built a fresh peak for a third straight day, just hours after the United States formally announced escalating economic pressure on Iran. One thing worth remembering: when safe haven assets (gold, the dollar) and risk assets (equities) rise together, it usually means the market is fleeing a falling national currency rather than fleeing risk itself; and until the full sanctions package is clear, that pattern could continue.

What to Watch Today

• Today: further details of the "largest economic attack" sanctions package on Iran, which Bessent promised to announce, are expected in the coming hours.
• Tomorrow, Tuesday, Shahrivar 3: Iran's 154th gold bullion auction will be held at the Currency and Gold Exchange Center; registration closes tonight at midnight.
• This week: US personal consumption expenditures inflation data and Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's Jackson Hole address, both of which could move the dollar and global gold.
• The 12:30 close: will TEDPIX hold on to today's intraday record through the end of the session?

Track upcoming economic events and shareholder assemblies on Sahmino's economic calendar.