The Azadi gold coin took a hard hit today, melting to a seven month trough, as Tehran's traders responded to the precious metal's global fall.
The sell off continued well into the Tehran's evening. The Azadi stood at 9,250,000 rials at 14:55 GMT, dropping 1.51 percent from the start of the working day, as investors caught up with gold's fall in the international markets of Friday.
Bullion for immediate delivery had fallen by 1.3 percent, to $1229.49 per ounce since the end of Tehran's working week on Thursday, till Friday's market close.
Precious metals have lost their appeal as the US dollar is holding its momentum, since anticipation of a sooner than expected rise in US interest rates is boosting the currency.
The dollar is at a 14 month high against its 10 major peers, eroding demand for precious metals as alternative investments. Platinum and palladium have fallen, following gold which is at its lowest since January, while silver sank to the lowest since June 2013.
The bullion coin's offshoots were all in red, yet the sharpest decline belonged to the Azadi itself, as the Half-Azadi and Qurter-Azadi dropped 1.07 percent and 1.15 percent, respectively. The former stood at 4,665,000 rials by 14:55 London time, while the latter sold for 2,610,000 rials.
"There will be more selling if the markets continue their downtrend on Monday," said a bureau de change owner to Financial Tribune. "We expect it to be the case, all forecasts point to further decline," he added.
While gold coins dropped, other currencies had minor gains against the rial, as the currency held its position. The dollar remained unchanged at 31,850 rials. The euro gained 30 rials and traded at 41,520 rials by 14:55 GMT, while the pound went up by 0.07 percent to reach 51,860 rials.
The dollar has strengthened to a six year high against the yen this week, trading at 107.32 yens by Friday's close. While the euro stood at it's lowest in 14 month against the US currency, closing at $1.2964 per euro.
Sterling rebound from a 10 month low against the dollar and finished at $1.6267 by 22:00 GMT, as concern that Scotland will vote for independence next week subsided, allowing investors to focus on the strength of the UK economy
The rise of the US currency has also shoved oil prices to a two-year low with the Brent crude at $97.11 bbl and the West Texas Intermediate at $92.27 per barrel at 22:00 London time, on Friday.
