Feb 17: Vietnam gold breaks VND37Mln, Dollar up to VND21,950

Vietnam gold prices on February 17 morning broke down VND37million threshold to VND37.07million/tael, up for the fourth straight day as global prices hit a peak of $1,381.40 an ounce. Meanwhile, dollar prices edged up to VND21,950 in the free market.

At 9:49 a.m, bid and ask of Thang Long gold bullion, a product of Bao Tin Minh Chau were listed at VND36.93million/tael and VND37.07 million/tael for bid and ask, respectively.

Sacombank-SBJ gold as listed at VND36.93 million/tael and VND36.99 million/tael for bid and ask, respectively.

SJC in Hanoi was listed at VND36.92 million/tael and VND36.99million/tael for bid and ask, respectively.

In Asian trade this morning, spot gold hit a peak of $1,381.40 an ounce after Israel’s announcement before trimming gains to last trade near $1,373 an ounce, against $1,372.95 late in New York on Tuesday.

U.S. gold futures for April delivery settled up $1 to end at $1,375.10 an ounce. “It’s probably had some implications for the safe-haven aspects of gold — but you also have to factor in the currency move,” RBS analyst Daniel Major said.

“It may have had some impact but gold is pretty much … back to where it was this morning.”

The metal remained in a relatively narrow trading range as tension in the Middle East and concerns over the inflation outlook underpinned prices, while better appetite for higher-yielding assets curbed fresh buying interest.

“There are a number of conflicting signals for what is usually driving gold,” said Peter Fertig, a consultant at Quantitative Commodity Research. “This is currently leading to a bit more sideways trading.”

U.S. data on Wednesday showed both housing starts and the producer price index for January came in above expectations, which prompted Treasurys to pare gains.

Core PPI showed a 0.5 percent month on month rise in January, above expectations for a 0.2% increase.

Equity markets were supported on Wednesday by positive corporate earnings reports.

Dollar watchers are now awaiting the release of the Federal Open Market Committee’s minutes of its Jan. 25-26 meeting on monetary policy at 1900 GMT.

Holdings of the largest, New York’s SPDR Gold Trust, eased to a nine-month low on Tuesday, but outflows this month so far are well below January’s levels.

In the global market, dollar prices were quoted at VND21,800 and VND21,900 for bid and ask, respectively at Vietcombank while VND21,790 and VND21,890 for bid and ask, respectively in the free market.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) strengthened the reference rate midpoint for today’s trading to VND20,683 versus VND20,698 yesterday, the central bank’s data showed – Stoxplus.com

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