Vietnam gold prices hit vnd40.9mln/tael, dollar stable

Vietnam gold prices soared VND0.8 million to VND40.9 million a tael, highest of all time, following suit global market trend while dollar prices were firm for 22 consecutive days.

As of 10:40 Hanoi time, Sacombank-SJC gold as listed at VND40.85million/tael and VND40.95million/tael for bid and ask, respectively.
Bid and ask of Thang Long gold bullion, a product of Bao Tn Minh Chau were listed at VND40.82million/tael and VND40.94million/tael for bid and ask, respectively.

SJC in Hanoi was listed at VND40.84million/tael and VND40.93million/tael for bid and ask, respectively.

The quoted prices were also higher than the morning’s and the prices were continuously adjusted up. The spread between bid and ask has been widened to minimize risks.

Traders said local gold prices are still VND300,000 a tael lower than global ones.

In global market, gold surged to a fresh record high on Wednesday as investors sought a safe haven in the face of a fragile global economy.

Spot gold rose to an all-time high of $1,661.14 in early Asian hours, hitting its ninth record since July 13. It was trading at $1658.70, up $14.20 or +0.86% as of 11:00 Hanoi time today. U.S. gold rose 0.7% to $1,655.3.

Gold jumped 2.6% on Tuesday, its biggest gain since early November just after the U.S. Federal Reserve launched a second round of government debt purchases, or quantitative easing. It has only fallen five times in the past 23 sessions.

The strength in gold took many by surprise, as investors had expected gold to take a dip once the U.S. debt crisis was resolved.

“We thought the increase in debt ceiling would provide a platform from which they could have some breathing space,” Reuters quoted Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services based in Sydney as saying.

“But Wall Street took it as a bad sign the debt problem is there, which means there would be no stimulus because no one can afford it. As a result of that, gold was taken to a new high.”

SPDR Gold Trust holdings rise

Holdings of the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust , climbed 1.4% to 1281.75 tons on Tuesday, a day when investors flocked to the safe haven on fears of sluggish growth in the global economy.

SPDR’s holdings’ record-high was 1,320.436 tons on June 29 last year.

Money market

Local dollar midpoint exchange rate was unchanged in the past 3 weeks at VND20,608. The SBV’s transaction office quoted dollar prices at VND20,600 –VND20,814 for bid and ask, respectively while commercially banks mostly quoted dollar prices at VND20,565- VND20,615. – Stoxplus.com

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