Vietnam gold soars to VND37 mln, dollar inches up to VND21,950
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Gold prices Thursday soared to VND37 million a tael, up VND230,000 over Wednesday, while dollar prices edged up to VND21,950 in the free market.
The price of the precious metal shot up VND1.15 million, four times the rate of the increase in world gold price in the same period, mainly due to impact from exchange rates.
Trading at gold shops was mostly carried out by individual buyers with popular sale of gold bars worth 1/10-1/2 tael. A tael is equal to 1.2 troy ounces or 37.5 grams.
Demand of those small-value gold bars surged following rising gold prices since people did not wait to have enough money to buy one-tael gold bars, Nguyen Ngoc Que Chi, general director of the gold company under the Ho Chi Minh City-based Sacombank, told Tuoi Tre.
Dollar prices were quoted at VND21,800 and VND21,900 for bid and ask at Vietcombank while the price was VND21,790 and VND21,890 for bid and ask in the free market.
The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) strengthened the reference rate midpoint for Thursday’s trading to VND20,683 versus VND20,698 Wednesday, the central bank’s data showed.
While domestic gold price continued to increase, the world gold price fluctuated due to erratic ups and downs of the dollar.
After Britain announced unemployment unexpectedly rose, the dollar has risen sharply in a few hours and put pressure on gold which fell to $ 1,368.03 per ounce.
However, another disappointing report from the manufacturing sector and the U.S. housing market pushed the price of gold to $ 1,381.8 an ounce before falling to the $ 1,377 an ounce.
According to news analysis of Eximbank, the world gold price is being supported by political tensions spreading throughout the Middle East and the consumer price index's increase in the UK and China.
But gold prices may not rise rapidly due to a lack of demand from international hedge funds.
