Vietnam gold at 2-month high, Dollar hits VND19,350 on SBV move

Aug 18: Vietnam Gold At 2-month High, Dollar Hits VND19,350 on SBV Move

Local gold prices hit two-month high at VND28.70 million a tael on August 18, up VND 200,000 from last close while dollar price rose to VND 19,350 in free market after the State Bank of Vietnam announced 2.09% dong devaluation which took effect today.

SJC’s bullion gold’s bid and ask were listed at VND 28.57 million and VND28.67million/tael at 9 a.m this morning. SBJ bullion’s bid and ask at 10 a.m were listed at VND28.60 million and VND28.64 million/tael. A tael is equal to 1.2 ounce.

The higher prices fluctuation boosted up trading activities as traders jumped in to take some profit.

In Asia trade, spot gold added $2.75 an ounce to $1,225.65 an ounce, having hit on $1,228.45 Tuesday, the highest since early July. It was about 3 % below a record struck in June.

U.S. gold futures for December delivery were steady at $1,227.5 an ounce — close to a 1-½ month high seen on Tuesday.

High prices attracted selling of gold scrap from holders in Indonesia and Hong Kong, but volume was small.

“I am also looking at gold to be supported above the $1,220 level. It would be underpinned by strong investment demand as we see from the rise in holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust,” said Ong Yi Ling, an investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

“I think it really demonstrates a strong investment interest in gold that will continue, especially if we see people worried about the economic recovery. It really depends on the kind of economic data that is being printed.”

The world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust said its holdings rose to 1,294.604 tonnes by Aug. 17 from 1,286.699 tonnes on Aug. 12. The holdings hit a record at 1,320.436 tonnes on June 29.

In the local forex market, dollar prices surged at both the official and unofficial market. Massive dollar price hike followed the SBV’s move of devaluating the country’s currency, the dong, by 2.09% to VND18,932 to a dollar.

Dollar prices in free market rose to VND19, 400 and VND19,500 for bid and ask, respectively. Meanwhile, dollar prices listed by local banks rose VND150-VND160 from yesterday close to VND19,245 VND19,310 for bid and ask respectively at Vietcombank and VND19,250 and VND19,310 at Sacombank.

In global forex market, the dollar edged down to 85.48 Japanese yen from 85.54 yen. U.S data that appeared to support the idea of a recovering economy weighed Tuesday on the dollar and other traditional safe-haven assets. – Stoxplus

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