Dec 31: Vietnam gold edges down to VND36.1Mln, Dollar undercuts VND21,000

Local gold prices on December 31 edged down to VND36.1million/tael as the world gold prices slipped off near three-week high. Meanwhile, dollar prices broke the VND21,000 threshold, tumbling to VND20,970 in the free market. Sacombank-SBJ in Ho Chi Minh was listed at VND35.99million/tael and VND36.09million/tael for bid and ask, respectively. SJC in Hanoi was listed at VND36.02million/tael and VND36.1million/tael for bid and ask, respectively. Meanwhile, SJC in HCMC was listed at VND36.02million/tael and VND36.1milllion/tael for bid and ask, respectively. Bid and ask of Thang Long gold bullion, a product of Bao Tin Minh Chau were listed at VND35.76million/tael and VND35.82million/tael for bid and ask, respectively. As of December 31, local gold prices have tumbled VND9.4million/tael, or 35.2% since early 2010. In New York trade last night, spot gold slipped and was last bid around $1,404 an ounce, having risen for three straight trading sessions to its highest since Dec. 7, when it touched a record high $1,430.95. U.S. gold futures for February delivery settled down $7.60 to end at $1,405.90 an ounce. This year, bullion has benefited from safe-haven buying on lingering worries about a euro zone debt crisis, a $600 billion U.S. bond-buyback program and renewed demand from global central banks, which are expected to become net buyers for the first time in decades. “The economy is still on life support, and it’s only moving forward based on the stimulus and Fed’s action. In absence of those, we would still be down on recession,” said Frank McGhee, head precious metals trader of Integrated Brokerage Services in Chicago. “If the economic picture turns brighter and you see the Fed starting to take some of the liquidity out, then gold prices could retreat as investors think the market has already priced in what’s out there,” he said. On Thursday, gold dropped after upbeat U.S. data, including jobless claims, factory data and home sales buttressed the view the economy gained momentum as the year ended. In the local market, dollar prices were quoted at VND20,900 and VND20,970 for bid and ask, respectively in the free market. Meanwhile, those at Vietcombank were capped at VND19,490 and VND19,500 for bid and ask, respectively. In the global market, the dollar dropped against a basket of currencies in a mixed session after having risen earlier on concerns about the euro zone debt crisis. In 2011, the greenback is expected to continue to stay weaker in a low U.S. interest rate environment due to the Fed’s accommodative monetary policy, said McGhee.

Tags: vietnam gold, Vietnam gold market, Vietnam gold prices

Posted by VBN on Dec 31 2010. Filed under Gold. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry