Currency, Gold Advance in Tehran

The currency market recovered from a brief hiatus a session earlier to resume past rallies on Monday and bolstered the domestic bullion market.
The dollar climbed to 248,800 rials in Tehran’s open market gaining 1.5% or 3,500 rials. The euro was up 0.9% or 2,640 rials to buy 293,520 rials. One UK pound sterling was quoted 1.15% higher at 341,218 rials. Posting the biggest daily increase was the UAE dirham gaining 1.9% or 1,300 rials to fetch 68,200 rials on Monday.
The Persian-language economic news website Eqtesad News said the rise in forex rates is due to the negative atmosphere and uncertainty looming over the extended talks in Vienna to revive Iran’s nuclear deal.
Pessimism is due largely because both American and Iranian officials “put the onus on each other“ to make critical decisions to revive the accord abandoned by former US president Donald Trump who is now facing criminal charges.      
“Iran never quit the JCPOA [formal name of the nuclear deal] to have to rejoin it now. It is the US who tipped the balance of the JCPOA and has practically hindered its implementation through complete non-compliance,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh was quoted as saying by ISNA on Sunday.
He was responding to claims by the US and French foreign ministers that a positive conclusion of the talks depends on Tehran.
On Monday official exchange bureaus affiliated to the Central Bank of Iran pushed up rates to reduce the price difference with the open market.
The dollar USD was tagged at 247,790 rials at the state-run Melli Exchange, affiliated to Bank Melli Iran -- up 1,000 rials or more than 0.4% compared to the session earlier.  
Likewise, the greenback was also higher in the wholesale currency market, known as the regulated forex market, where it was up 1.7% to fetch 241,780 rials.    
Upsurge in currency prices was reflected in the domestic bullion market. The Emami gold coin was up 1.77% to fetch 107.15 million rials.
Half Bahar Azadi coin climbed 2.26% to reach 57.5 million rials and one gram of 18-karat gold was worth 10. 64 million rials, up 0.53%, according to Tehran Gold and Jewelry Union website.  
Gold eased on Monday in international markets as a firm dollar weighed, although bullion traded in a tight range as investors remained on the sidelines given the US Federal Reserve’s mixed signals on policy tightening, Reuters said.
Spot gold was 0.2% lower at $1,775.64 per ounce. US gold futures were down 0.1% at $1,775.70. The precious metal suffered its biggest daily drop in five months.