US dollar, gold slip on domestic market

US dollar and gold prices have fallen in the domestic market in recent days.

The dollar exchange rate at most commercial banks fell by VND30-VND40 per dollar compared to last week and VND10-VND20 in the last few days.

The Viet Nam Foreign Trade Bank (Vietcombank) quoted a buying/selling price of the US dollar at VND18,960-VND19,010, respectively, down VND10 and VND20 from Monday.

Eximbank listed buying/selling rates at VND18,960 and VND19,020 per dollar, down VND20 from last week.

The exchange rate on the open market also decreased, and nearly equaled the official rate, with buying and selling rates at VND18,970-VND18,990 and VND19,100.

The gold price in the domestic market has also fallen following a depreciation of the US dollar and world gold prices.

Sai Gon Jewellery Holding Co yesterday bought the precious metal at VND27.30 million and sold it at VND27.37 million per tael, compared to buying and selling prices at VND28.25 million and VND28.19 million last Monday.

Sai Gon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank listed its buying and selling of SBJ gold at VND27.34 million and VND27.42 million per tael, respectively, a drop of nearly VND900,000 against Monday.

The global gold price at 4pm local time last Friday stood at US$1,197 per ounce compared to its peak of more than $1,240 per ounce last week.

The factory price of construction steel this months fell by VND600,000-VND1 million per tonne, said Nguyen Tien Nghi, deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Steel Association. This was the second fall in May, he added.

Currently, steel prices at the factory excluding VAT fluctuated between VND13.2 million and VND13.8 million per tonne.

Steel agents in recent days have also cut retail prices to VND14.8 million per tonne from VND15.4 million per tonne last week.

Retail steel prices have fallen nearly VND2 million per tonne compared to the price of VND16.3-VND17 million per tonne in mid-April, steel agents said.

Nghi attributed the decrease to a fall in demand this month and a drop in the price of steel ingots in the world market.

In April, the volume of steel sold was about 299,000 tonnes, a drop of 269,000 tonnes compared to March, Nghi said, adding that the figure was expected to fall further in May.

In addition, the global price of steel ingot went down from $670 per tonne to $610-$630 per tonne this month.

To boost sales, steel producers have offered preferential prices to buyers who buy a large volume. — VNS

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