‘Prices in gold and dollar markets bubble-inflated’

TEHRAN, May 26 (MNA) - The head of the Gold and Jewelry Union said a sudden rise in price of gold and dollar on Thursday was a bubble high pushed by temporary fluctuations. Mohammad Kashti-Aray told the Mehr News agency that the price of new and old gold coins were 6,650,000 and 6,750,000 rials respectively (around 542 and 550 dollars) which both showed an increase of 300,000 rials (around 24 dollars) compared to the day before. Kashti-Aray added each gram of 18-carat gold in the market on Thursday reached 690,000 rials (about 56 dollars) which showed a 50,000-rial (4 dollars) jump in comparison to that of Wednesday. He also said each dollar in the black market on Thursday was traded between 17,500-17,700 rials. This is while the price of dollar on Wednesday was under 17,000 rials. The official rate for one dollar is 12,260 rials. Probably the rise in gold coin and dollar prices was caused by nuclear negotiations between Iran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) in Baghdad which at first did not show signs of progress. However, late on Thursday Iran and the 5+1 group agreed to resume talks on June 18 in Moscow to ‘expand the common ground’ for cooperation, which may calm the market.