Feb 18: Vietnam gold surges to VND37.53Mln, Dollar breaks VND22,000

Vietnam gold prices on February 18 morning surged about VND550,000 to VND37.53million/tael, up for the fifth straight day as global prices rose to settle above $1,385 an ounce. Meanwhile, dollar prices broke the VND22,000 threshold in the free market

At 9:41 a.m, bid and ask of Thang Long gold bullion, a product of Bao Tin Minh Chau were listed at VND37.4million/tael and VND37.53 million/tael for bid and ask, respectively.

Sacombank-SBJ gold as listed at VND37.36million/tael and VND37.54million/tael for bid and ask, respectively.

SJC in Hanoi was listed at VND37.32million/tael and VND37.44million/tael for bid and ask, respectively.

In Asian trade this morning, spot gold was last bid around $1,383 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for April delivery settled up $10 to end at $1,385.10 an ounce.

The prospect of rising inflation, not only in areas currently affected by the phenomenon such as China and India, but also in the United States and Europe, has become an oft-cited reason to hold gold in recent weeks.

“The mood of the market is that an inflation story, a war story, an Egypt story, a Bahrain story will all be bullish for gold, because the market is looking for those at the moment,” said ANZ Bank analyst Peter Hillyard.

Gold also benefit from a broad decline of the dollar versus a currency basket after data showed U.S. new unemployment benefit claims climbed faster than forecast last week.

In the local market, dollar prices were quoted at VND20,785 and VND20,885 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) on February 18 strengthened the reference rate midpoint for today’s trading to VND20,678 versus VND20,683 yesterday, the central bank’s data showed. It also raised the refinance rate by 200 basis points to 11% while keeping the base rate, which served as the benchmark until recently, unchanged at 9% and the discount rate at 7%. – Stoxplus.com

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