Gold recovers as low prices boost demand

Most gold shops bought the metal at VND35.75 million and sold at VND35.85 million as of 10am local time. Gold currently stood at the lowest level since the end of November.

Sacombank Jewelry Company maintained buying gold at VND35.78 million and selling at VND35.82 million since 8:15 am local time.

Hanoi-based Phu Quy Jewelry purchased SJC-brand gold at VND35.78 million and sold at VND35.8

Domestically, gold fetched VND700,000 a tael higher than global prices.

This morning, dollars continued to devalue on free market. Dollars were bought at VND21,030 and sold at VND21,080, a decrease of VND10-20 per dollar over the previous day. The greenback lost VND270 per dollar within the past four days.

Internationally, gold slightly revived as a decline from record boosted investor demand for the metal as an alternative to currencies.

Gold for immediate delivery rose as much as $5.7 an ounce to close at $1,388 an ounce on the Comex in New York.

In Asia, spot gold continued to gain $3 an ounce over the closing price in New York to trade around $1,391 an ounce as of 10:05am Vietnamese time.

Gold slashed 3 per cent in the past two trading sessions after hitting an all-time high of $1,428.7 an ounce.

SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest exchange-traded fund backed by bullion, continued to dump 1.5 metric tonnes, reducing its holdings to 1,293.8 metric tonnes, the company’s website showed.

A report by the US Labor Department showed that initial jobless claims for the week ended November 27 unexpectedly dropped to 421,000, much lower than a forecast of 425,000. This positive news increased the attractiveness of high-risk assets while eroding the greenback’s appeal.

The euro exchange rate against the US dollar hovered above $1.32 a euro in Tokyo this morning, almost unchanged as of the previous day.

Crude oil futures for January settlement inched up $0.09 a barrel to close at $88.37 a barrel.

This morning, crude oil faintly edged up, trading below $88.5 a barrel.