Gold falls below $1,500 support level
Print 
Gold prices fell in Vietnam by VND50,000 per tael (37.5 grams) early Monday following the drop in global prices.
The rise in the US dollar against the euro on concern European finance ministers may fail to quell speculation Greece will have to restructure its debt put pressure on gold prices.
As of 10 am local time in Hanoi, Saigon Jewelry Co (SJC) gold fell further in Ho Chi Minh City to be bought at VND37.33 million a tael and sold at VND37.4 million.
Sacombank-SBJ gold also adjusted prices for a second time to VND37.33 million and VND37.41 million.
In Hanoi, Phu Quy Jewelry bought SJC-brand gold at VND37.3 million and sold at VND37.41 million at 10 am.
However, though international prices have hovered at around US$1,500 per ounce recently, the domestic gold market has remained gloomy. Traders attributed this to the higher deposit interest paid by banks.
Besides, the tightening of gold trading by authorities has also had an impact.
In Asian trade Monday at 9:40 am Ha Noi time, international spot gold was traded at $1,491.7 per ounce.
At Vietcombank’s exchange rate of VND20,630 to the dollar, gold was trading at VND37.1 million, or VND300,000 higher than world prices.
Sacombank-SBJ said with the important support level of $1,500 being broken, gold prices fall back to next support level at $1,475.
"Gold prices have risen sharply and continuously and so a correction is needed," Sacombank-SBJ analysts said.
Unlike gold, the greenback strengthened Monday. Vietcombank increased its buying rate by VND30 to VND20,550 and its selling rate by VND10 to VND20,630.
Sacombank listed the dollar at VND20,530 and VND20,650.
The euro has slid to a six-week low against the dollar after Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested for sexual assault in the US, increasing uncertainty over aid to Greece and other indebted euro-zone countries.
As of 9:55 am local time, the single currency traded at US$1.41 in Tokyo. It has lost 1.7 percent against the dollar in the last week.
