Gold rockets to VND39.6 million

Most gold shops bought the metal at VND39.5 million and sold at below VND39.6 million this morning.

Sacombank Jewelry Company purchased gold at VND39.48 million and sold at VND39.56 million as of 9:45 am local time.

Meanwhile, the Hanoi-based Phu Quy Jewelry bought SJC-brand gold at VND39.47 million and sold at VND39.57 million.

Domestically, gold fetched around VND250,000 a tael lower than global price.

On bullion market, selling demand took the upper hand but became weaker as most investors sold the metal heavily in last week.

State-owned Vietcombank bought the greenback at VND20,550 and sold at VND20,600, unchanged as of the previous day. Meanwhile, the interbank exchange rate also remained at VND20,608.

Internationally, gold surged to record in longest rally in 31 years as debt concerns in Europe and the US boosted demand for the metal as a safe-haven.

Gold for immediate delivery rose as much as $11 an ounce, or 0.7 per cent, to close at $1,606.1 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Earlier, the metal touched $1,608.5 an ounce, an all-time high.

In Asia, gold declined in the trading session this morning as investors sold gold to take profits. Spot gold slid $3.6 an ounce to trade at $1,602.5 an ounce as of 9:55 am Vietnamese time.

President Barack Obama is pressing congressional leaders for a multitrillion-dollar agreement in talks on cutting the deficit in the next five days. The Treasury Department has warned the US debt ceiling must be lifted by August 2 to avoid default. Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service may downgrade the government’s credit rating if Congress does not act.

Holdings at SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest exchange traded fund backed by bullion, increased by more than 13 metric tons to 1,249.3 metric tons, the company’s website showed. It bought 31 metric tons last week.

The euro exchange rate against the US dollar was at $1.41 a euro in Tokyo this morning.

Crude oil futures for August delivery traded at $96.14 a barrel, up $0.21 a barrel over the closing price in New York, as of 10 am Vietnamese time.