The rial gained more ground as most foreign exchange rates continued to retreat at Tehran’s unofficial market on Sunday.
The US dollar was down almost 2.3% and was quoted at 301,700 rials at the close of the session -- 7,000 rials lower on Saturday’s close. The euro fetched 309,660 rials losing 2.3% in one day and the GBP was worth 364,860 rials -- down 2.7% for the day. The UAE dirham lost 1.7% to buy 82,600 rials on Sunday, the Eqtesad News website said.
Guarded optimism about the revival of Iran’s nuclear deal triggered a sell-off in the chaotic currency market ast Wednesday.
The fate of the difficult talks has impacted asset markets, particularly the currency market. Observers say the national currency will rebound if the banking and financial sanctions are eased as envisioned in the 2015 deal, which was abandoned by the United States under Donald Trump in 2018.
Unlike the downswing in the unofficial market, prices in official exchange bureaus operating under the tutelage of Central Bank of Iran were little changed.
The greenback was tagged at 280,710 rials at the Melli Exchange, up 0.07%. It was traded at 279,380 rials in the regulated forex market to post 0.1% increase. The market is a CBI-affiliated spot market operated by a network of banks and certified moneychangers dealing in wholesale currency.
Decline in the currency market affected the domestic bullion market where the precious metal added losses. The popular Emami gold coin lost close to 2.5% or 3.53 million rials on Sunday to reach 14.178 million rials.
The half Bahar Azadi coin was down more than 1.2% to buy 79.5 million rials and 18-karat gold was unchanged at 13.28 million rials per gram.
