March 10: Vietnam gold falls, Dollar trading cracked down

Local gold prices on March 10 extended losses as the crackdown of illegal dollar trading and the plan to close bullion trade weighed.

As of 16:00 Hanoi time, Sacombank-SBJ gold as listed at VND37.41 million/tael and VND37.47 million/tael for bid and ask, respectively, down VND30,00 from yesterday afternoon trade.

Bid and ask of Thang Long gold bullion, a product of Bao Tin Minh Chau were listed at VND37.34 million/tael and VND37.44 million/tael for bid and ask, respectively, down VND60,000.

SJC in Hanoi was listed at VND37.37 million/tael and VND37.47 million/tael for bid and ask, respectively, meanwhile, SJC in HCMC was listed at VND37.37 million/tael and VND37.45 milllion/tael for bid and ask, respectively, down VND50,000.

In Euro trade this afternoon, gold eased after tracking oil higher in the morning. Bullion traders remain focused on mounting unrest across the Arab world and renewed concern about euro zone debt.

Spot gold was last bid at 1427.0601 an ounce down $1.73 or0.12%, having struck a record high of $1,444.40 on Monday. U.S. gold futures for April were traded at 1428.20 an ounce, down $1.40 or 0.1%. The contract hit record at $1,445.70 on Monday.

“Sentiment in gold is neutral. People won’t commit too much at these price levels. There’s a bit of buying at around $1,425. I guess jewelers would have to buy. They have to do the business.” Reuters quoted a dealer in Hong Kong as saying.

The physical gold market also lacked activity in Singapore, a centre for bullion trading in Southeast Asia, where premiums for gold bars were unchanged at $1 an ounce to the spot London prices.

“There’s not much here actually. I guess gold has gone up because of firm oil prices,” said a dealer in Singapore.

In local money market, the dong was traded at 20,875 and 20,880 per dollar for bid and ask, respectively at Vietcombank and BIDV as the State Bank of Vietnam weakened the daily reference rate to VND20,673 from VND20,668, according to its website. The currency is allowed to trade up to 1% on either side of that midpoint.

Vietnam’s police on late March 8 caught an illegal dollar trading deal worth of near $400,000, equivalent to VND8.5billion, at an Eximbank’s branch, a move to confirm the authority tough hand on the issue.

Earlier, the central bank’s Governor Nguyen Van Giau said the SBV will join hands with the police, market regulators to investigate and penalize violations in dollar trading transactions on the black market.

Gold shops in Hanoi and HCM city have stopped dealing dollars since March 7, trading of those in other provinces started to follow suit from today. – Stoxplus.com

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