Bullion peaks record high

Sacombank Jewelry Company purchased gold at VND38.46 million and sold at VND38.58 million as of 8:25 am local time.

Saigon Jewelry Company bought the metal at VND38.52 million and sold at VND38.58 million at the same time.

Meanwhile, the Hanoi-based Phu Quy Jewelry bought SJC-brand gold at VND38.47 million and sold at VND38.57 million as of 9 am local time.

Domestically, gold fetched around VND500,000 a tael lower than global price.

According to jewelers, high prices prompted people to sell the metal heavily. Ton The Vinh Quyen, sales director of Sacombank Jewelry Company, said that his company collected 4,000 taels of gold yesterday. This morning, the company bought 2,300 taels more by 9 am.

State-owned Vietcombank bought the greenback at VND20,550 and sold at VND20,610, a decrease of VND10 per dollar in buying price and VND20 per dollar in selling price over the previous day. Meanwhile, the interbank exchange rate also remained at VND20,608.

Internationally, gold unexpectedly jumped by the end of the trading session as Europe’s escalating debt crisis boosted demand for the metal as a haven investment.

Gold for immediate delivery gained as much as $12.9 an ounce, or 0.8 percent, to close at $1,568.3 an ounce on the Kitco trading floor.

In Asia, the metal slightly dropped as investors sold gold to take profits. Spot gold sank $1.6 an ounce to trade at $1,566.7 an ounce as of 8:50 am Vietnamese time.

The metal was supported by uncertainties in Europe and the US. The US lawmakers have not reached an agreement in raising debt ceiling while the date when the government is projected to exhaust its borrowing authority is coming.

 Ireland joined Portugal and Greece as the third euro-area nation to have its credit rating reduced to below investment grade.

Holdings at SPDR Gold Trust, the largest exchange traded fund backed by bullion, increased by 1.7 percent to 1,225.4 metric tons from 1,205.4 metric tons, the company website’s showed.

The euro exchange rate against the US dollar fell to below $1.4 a euro in Tokyo this morning from above $1.4 a euro the previous day.

Crude oil futures for August delivery surged as much as $2.28 a barrel to close at $97.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

This morning, crude oil slid $0.4 a barrel to trade at $97.03 a barrel as of 8:50 am Vietnamese time.