Feb 14: Vietnam gold resumes VND36Mln, Dollar down

Local gold prices on February 14 came back to above VND36 million a tael while dollar prices eased in the free market over last weekend prices.

As of 16:00 Hanoi time, Sacombank-SBJ gold as listed at VND36.08 million/tael and VND36.15 million/tael for bid and ask, respectively.

Bid and ask of Thang Long gold bullion, a product of Bao Tin Minh Chau were listed at VND36.09million/tael and VND36.18 million/tael for bid and ask, respectively.

SJC in Hanoi was listed at VND36.06 million/tael and VND36.15million/tael for bid and ask, respectively. Meanwhile, SJC in HCMC was listed at VND36.06million/tael and VND36.13milllion/tael for bid and ask, respectively.

In Euro trade this afternoon,spot gold held steady with prices hovering below $1,360 an ounce, as investors awaited China inflation data for trading cues after the resignation of Egypt’s president following weeks of protest took some heat out of risk aversion.

U.S. gold futures edged down 0.2 percent at $1,357.80.

Gold prices, which have been buoyed by the turmoil in Egypt, may get a further boost if China’s reports a high inflation number. Economists polled by Reuters have pegged China’s January inflation rising at a 30-month high.

“China’s inflation number is something to watch out for. If the number is high, it may cause another move up in gold prices, because people would use gold as hedge against inflation,” said a Singapore-based dealer.

But a stronger-than-expected rise in inflation may trigger fears of more tightening, after China raised interest rates twice in just over six weeks.

A bullish target for spot gold of $1,388 per ounce has been aborted as it failed to touch a new high on Friday, making likely a further drop towards $1,333, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst.

Physical market activity was subdued, as Chinese buyers had yet to jump in to the market as expected.

“Gold is stuck in the range of $1,345 to $1,370,” said Peter Fung, head of dealing department at Wing Fung Precious Metals in Hong Kong. “We are not seeing much physical interest after the Chinese returned from the Lunar New Year holiday, and the premiums in Shanghai are lower than before the holiday.”

Fung said the lack of direction in the market contributed to the listless trading activities.

“People don’t see any trend in the short term, and have little interest in trading.”

Premiums for gold in Singapore have fallen to about $1 per ounce over London prices, from $1.50/$1.90 last week, as demand ebbed from before the Lunar New Year and supply tightness eased.

“As interest rates are turning more hawkish, opportunity cost of having gold is higher now,” said a Singapore-based trader.

In local forex market, dollar prices fell to VND21, 680 from last weekend of VND21,700. – Stoxplus.com

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