July 25: Vietnam gold sets fresh all-time high of VND39.8Mln/Tael

Vietnam gold on Monday rose over VND 200,000 surged from last close to a fresh lifetime high of VND39.8million/tael since world gold prices hit a record high above $1,620 an ounce on Monday on fears of a possible U.S. debt default.

At 9 a.m. Hanoi’s time, SJC at Bao Tin Minh Chau was listed at VND39.6 million/tael and VND39.7million/tael for bid and ask, respectively, while gold bid and ask at SJC Hanoi were VND39.62million/tael and VND39.7million/tael.

In New York last night, gold hit a record high above $1,620 an ounce as investors piled into bullion over fears of a possible U.S. debt default as the debt ceiling talks in Washington stalled.

Spot gold, which has risen nearly 14% so far this year, climbed more than 1% to a record of $1,622.49 an ounce, before easing to $1,614.06 by 0054 GMT. U.S. gold also hit a record at $1,624.30. It was last quoted at $1,614.80.

Clocks are ticking towards the August 2 deadline for U.S. deficit talks, while President Barack Obama and congressional leaders struggled late on Sunday to break a partisan impasse.

“Markets are focusing on whether the negotiations will be resolved,” said Natalie Robertson, a commodities analyst at ANZ. “At this time, we’ll see continued volatility and increased safe-haven buying in gold.”

Hedge funds and other large speculators last week boosted their bullish bets in U.S. gold futures to the highest in nearly two years as gold rallied on the euro zone’s debt crisis and uncertainties around the U.S. deficit talks.

Rating agency Standard & Poor’s last week reiterated that there was a 50-50 chance the U.S. AAA credit rating could be cut within three months.

Spot gold has rallied in 14 of this month’s 17 trading sessions, and is up 7.6% from the end of last month. But so far this year, it has lagged spot silver’s 31 percent climb.

“If the U.S. defaults, gold will go up. If they manage to deal with it, we may see gold come down quite quickly,” a trader based in Singapore said.

The U.S. dollar steadied against a basket of currencies as investors looked for signs of progress to break the impasse in the U.S. budget talks. – Stoxplus.com

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