Bullion leaps forward VND600,000 per tael

Sacombank Jewelry Company bought gold at VND46.2 million and sold at VND46.4 million as of 8:15 am Vietnamese time.

Saigon Jewelry Company, the biggest gold processor and trader in Vietnam, quoted the price at VND46.2 million for buying and VND46.45 million for selling.

Hanoi-based Phu Quy Jewelry Company purchased SJC-brand gold at VND46.33 million and sold at VND46.5 million as of 11:39 am, the highest level in the past six weeks.

Domestically, gold fetched VND550,000 a tael higher than global price.

The interbank exchange rate was stable at VND20,803 per dollar for ninth consecutive sessions. Vietcombank bought dollars at VND21,005, and sold at VND21,011. On free market, dollars were still bought at VND21,300 per dollar, and sold at VND21,350 per dollar.

Internationally, gold rallied as concerns over the European sovereign-debt crisis escalated after contagion from the region’s fiscal woes pushed Italy’s borrowing costs to euro-era records, spurring demand for the precious metal as a safe-haven.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s allies pressured him to step aside after the nation’s borrowing costs rose to the highest level in 15 years despite efforts of European leaders to prevent the sovereign-debt turmoil from spreading from Athens to Rome.

Gold for immediate delivery rose as much as $42 an ounce, or 2.4 percent, to close at $1,796.6 an ounce on the Comex in New York, the highest level in the past six weeks.

Gold futures for December delivery gained 2 percent to finish at $1,791.1 an ounce.

In Asia, spot gold was traded at $1,791.9 an ounce at 10 am Vietnamese time.

Holdings at SPDR Gold Trust increased by 10.59 metric tons to 1,255.65 metric tons yesterday, the highest level since August 23.

The euro exchange rate against the US dollar hovered nearly $1.38 a euro in Tokyo this morning.

Crude oil futures for December settlement was traded at $95.47 a barrel, down $0.05 a barrel, at 9:55 am Vietnamese time.