Currency Rises, Gold Slips

EghtesadOnline: Foreign exchange rates increased for the third consecutive session on Monday with the dollar quoted as high as 258,500 rials in Tehran open market.

News ID: ۷۸۶۸۳۳

10 August 2021

The domestic bullion market however, was down in the early hours of trade following the steep decline in the price of the precious metal in international markets. It later pared some of the loss after the spike in forex rates.

The greenback retreated from its high in the middle of the trade and closed at 258,000 rials, up 800 rials or more than 0.3% compared to the session earlier.

Likewise, the euro climbed more than 0.32% or 970 rials to 303,120 rials. The UK pound sterling was almost unchanged gaining 0.1% to buy 356,990 rials. The UAE dirham lost about 0.2% or 1,400 rials and was quoted at 70,160 rials on Monday.

Official exchange bureaus affiliated to the Central Bank of Iran too pushed up rates to keep pace with the open market trends.

One dollar was tagged at 248,490 rials at the state-run Melli Exchange, affiliated to Bank Melli Iran -- 830 rials or 0.4% higher compared with the session earlier.

The greenback also gained against the rial in the wholesale market, known as regulated forex market, where it was up about 0.3% to fetch 250,610 rials.

Gold prices in Iran slumped due to the sharp decline in gold prices in international markets. The popular Emami coind coin lost 400,000 rials or 0.36% to reach 111.8 million rials.

Half Bahar Azadi coin was worth 57.3 million rials, down 0.4%  and one gram of 18-karat gold was worth 10. 84 million rials, down 0.16%, according to Tehran Gold and Jewelry Union website.

Gold slumped to a more than four-month low on Monday in global markets, as the strong US jobs data raised expectations for an early tapering of the US Federal Reserve’s economic support measures, Reuters reported.

Spot gold was down 1.3% to $1,739.16 per ounce and US gold futures shed 1.1% to $1,744.30.

Bullion slipped over 2% after data on Friday showed US employers hired the most workers in nearly a year in July.

Bullion slid as much as 4.4% and briefly dropped below $1,700 in early Asian trade, but recovered from those lows with the dollar’s rally pausing.