Dec 3: Gold eases to VND36.26Mln, Dollar off all-time high

Gold prices on December 3 eased to VND36.26 million/tael although the world gold prices ticked higher. Meanwhile, dollar prices sled off the lifetime high to VND21,480 in the free market.

Gold prices on December 3 eased to VND36.26 million/tael although the world gold prices ticked higher. Meanwhile, dollar prices sled off the lifetime high to VND21,480 in the free market.

At 11 p.m., SJC was listed at VND36.18million/tael and VND36.26million/tael for bid and ask, respectively, down VND30 from last close.

Sacombank-SBJ was listed at VND36.2million/tael and VND36.24million/tael for bid and ask, respectively.

Bid and ask of Thang Long gold bullion, a product of Bao Tin Minh Chau were listed at VND36.18million/tael and VND36.28million/tael for bid and ask, respectively.

Local trading remains sluggish as investors stayed on the sidelines. The Ministry of Finance raised gold export tax to 10% from previous 0%, on god bars of under 99.9% purity, powdered gold or gold materials under Group 8718, effective from January 1, 2011.

In Asian trade this morning, spot gold rose $6.05 an ounce to $1,390.80 an ounce by 0309 GMT. It had jumped to its highest since Nov 12 around $1,398 on Thursday before falling back. Bullion was below a lifetime high around $1,424 struck in early November.

U.S. gold futures for February delivery added $2.2 to $1,391.5 an ounce.

The world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, said its holdings rose to 1,298.447 tons by Dec 2 from 1,293.891 tons on Dec 1. The holdings hit a record at 1,320.436 tons on June 29.

“We can say there are some bargain hunters at the lower end. There’s not too much liquidity in the market and a little bit of buying moves up gold,” said Ronald Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.

“I don’t see many jewelry makers around these days. The price is too high. It’s towards the year-end and most of the orders have already been filled,” said Leung, adding that gold could find resistance around $1,400.

In the local market, prices of the greenback at gold shops were sold at VND21,480. Meanwhile, those at Vietcombank are capped at VND19,490 and VND19,500 for bid and ask, respectively.The Governor said Vietnam is suffering from two pressures including the global economy impact and high trade deficit, making it very hard to resolve the dollar price turbulences. “That’s a target for regulators, as Vietnam has just transformed to the market economy. However, how long it takes to reach the target is still vague”, said the Governor.

Regarding to the move to grant gold import quota to local firms, the official affirmed that it’s expected not to put pressures on the dollar exchange rates, reasoning that a long period to import gold would not substantially raise demand for the greenback. – Stoxplus.com

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