Foreign currencies gained against the rial on Monday bucking a declining trend that started last Wednesday. The rally as usual extended to the bullion market.
The dollar changed hands for 264,000 rials in Tehran's free market, 1.9% higher compared to Sunday's close when it fell below 260,000 rials.
The euro climbed more than 1.8% or 6,000 rials to fetch 312,400 rials and the UK pound traded for 348,500 rials or 6,000 rials lower compared to Sunday. The UAE dirham was up 1.4% and sold for 73,200 rials.
Authorized exchange shops affiliated to the Central Bank of Iran refused to make significant rate changes due to the spike in open market prices.
Melli Exchange, affiliated to the Bank Mell Iran, quoted the greenback at 259,000 rials up 0.4% compared to the previous session.
Regulated Market Quotation
As per an earlier announcement, the regulated forex market, known officially as the Iran Currency Exchange, started announcing prices for the first time on Monday -- a new move to help improve transparency in the near permanent volatile forex market.
The regulated market is a network of banks and certified moneychangers under CBI auspices and deals in wholesale trade.
In a talk with Fars News Agency earlier in the week, Mehdi Goharrostami, head of ICE's public relations department said "the ICE has never made public its forex rates", adding that the regulated market is the only body in charge of setting wholesale currency prices.
The dollar was quoted at 253,880 rials on Monday at the exchange bureaus in the regulated market.
Gold Market
The Emami gold coin gained 0.8% or 1 million rials on Monday to reach 123 million rials. The popular asset has lost 25% in one month. Half Bahar Azadi coin was worth 66 million rials, almost unchanged compared to the earlier session. One gram of 18-karat gold was worth 11.7 million rials, up 0.7%, according to Tehran Gold and Jewelry Union website.
Gold retreated more than 1% on Monday in world markets after the US drugmaker Moderna announced a highly effective Covid-19 vaccine after human tests, bolstering hopes for a swifter economic recovery and accelerating a shift into riskier assets, Reuters reported.
Spot gold was down 0.7% to $1,875.71, having earlier hit its highest since Nov. 9 at $1,898.81. US gold futures slipped 0.7% at $1,873.80.
Moderna is the second company in a week to report late-stage clinical trial results that exceeded expectations, But reaction of the yellow metal was relatively mild compared to the more than 5% slump after Pfizer last Monday announced its coronavirus vaccine was over 90% effective.
