The Emami gold coin rallied to an all-time high of 170 million rials on Sunday -- 1.39% higher on the day before.
Demand for gold coins has increased in recent days, the Persian-language economic news website Eghtesadnews wrote, quoting market observers who see the chaos and higher risk in the currency market as the driving force behind the upsurge in gold demand.
The Central Bank of Iran last week said that it has enough resources and tools to stabilize both the currency and gold prices that have been of the ascending order in ways unseen in history. This is seen as a source of traders' hesitation, as the dollar seems to be unlikely to rise further in the near future, the website said.
The significant jump in the price of gold coin bonds offered by the CBI at the Iran Mercantile Exchange is also said to be a contributing factor pushing gold prices. Gold coin bonds reached 17.05 million rials on Sunday.
The CBI launched the initial public offer for the sovereign gold bonds at the IME early this month. The bonds are not taxable and each Iranian can buy up to 100 coins in bonds.
Maturity of the SGBs is six months and will be liquidated at maturity date based on the average price of gold coin bonds and bank certificates of gold coin deposits on the day of trade. The CBI guarantees repayment.
Half Bahar Azadi coin gained 1.63% at the weekend to buy 91.5 million rials while the Quarter Bahar Azadi coin was up 2.76% at 61.5 million rials.
Forex rates also climbed. The US dollar was quoted at 353,000 rials on Sunday in Tehran’s open market – 1,000 rials or 0.28% higher than Saturday's close.
Bank-affiliated exchange shops sold the greenback at an average 318,580 rials, up 1.1% or 3,520 rials compared with the day before. In the regulated market, the currency posted 1.02% increase to be traded at 332,920 rials.
The euro gained 0.84% Sunday to reach 367,190 rials. Melli Exchange, affiliated to Bank Melli Iran, sold the eurozone currency for 331,640 rials.
