Gold sinks below VND45 million as dollar declines

Sacombank Jewellery Company bought gold at VND44.6 million and sold at VND44.9 million as of 9.40 am Vietnamese time.

Saigon Jewellery Company, Vietnam’s biggest gold processor and trader, collected the metal at VND44.6 million and sold at VND44.9 million as of 9.46 am Vietnamese time.

Hanoi-based Phu Quy Jewellery Company purchased SJC-brand gold at VND44.78 million and sold at VND44.9 million as of 10.26 am Vietnamese time.

Meanwhile, Bao Tin Minh Chau Jewellery Company quoted price at VND43.85 million for buying, and VND44.1 million for selling at 10.51 am Vietnamese time.

Domestically, gold fetched around VND1.2 million a tael, higher than global price.

According to Sacombank Jewellery Company, in recent days, investors rushed to sell gold to book profits every time the price rose. The company recorded that customers sold around 850 taels of gold, and bought nearly 500 taels of gold yesterday.

Local gold price was under pressure caused by a sharp drop in dollar exchange rate in the previous days. On free market, dollars were bought at VND20,870 per dollar, and sold at VND20,900 per dollar, down VND10 per dollar over the previous day.

The interbank exchange rate remained at VND20,828 per dollar. However, the rates quoted at commercial banks continued to decline. Vietcombank bought the greenback at VND20,880 per dollar, and VND20,950 per dollar, a decrease of VND20 per dollar over the previous day.

Eximbanj quoted the price at VND20,860 per dollar for buying, and VND20,950 per dollar for selling, down VND10 per dollar in buying price, and VND20 per dollar in selling price over the previous day.

Internationally, gold dropped almost 1 per cent on new concerns about Europe’s economy and as technical resistance urged investors to sell gold to lock in gains after the previous session’s rally.

The precious metal weakened on news that Italy's economy probably contracted in the fourth quarter and on discouraging reports from Germany and France, along with lingering doubt about a bailout package for Greece. German exports fell at the steepest pace in nearly three years in December and imports unexpectedly dropped, while the Bank of France said that the country’s economy will not grow in the first quarter.

Gold futures for April delivery fell as much as $17.1 an ounce, or 1 per cent, to close at $1,743.8 an ounce on the Comex in New York.

Gold for immediate delivery dropped $12.9 an ounce, or 0.7 per cent, to close at $1,733 an ounce.

In Asia, spot gold was traded at $1,734 an ounce at 10.30 am Vietnamese time.

The euro exchange rate against the US dollar was above $1.32 a euro in Tokyo this morning.