Vietnamese gold above VND 19 million on int'l price rally

Vietnamese gold above VND 19 million on int'l price rally

Gold exceeded VND19 million (US$1,086) a tael on the local market Thursday as the international gold price hiked again after reaching a six-month high on Wednesday.

Local gold reached its highest price of the year in its second straight hike as Saigon Jewelry Joint Stock Co. (SJC), Vietnam’s largest gold trader, listed the precious metal’s price at VND19.26 million ($1,101) a tael, or $918 an ounce, a jump of VND310,000 on the previous day. A tael is equal to 1.2 ounces. Huynh Trung Khanh, a Vietnamese consultant to the World Gold Council, expected that gold prices would hike further, boosted by stymied US economic growth, which was negative 3.8 percent in 2008’s fourth quarter. Gold traded near a six-month high in London as investors sought a safe haven in precious metals on speculation the global economy would continue to deteriorate. Bullion for immediate delivery gained as much as $7.39, or 0.8 percent, to $946.38 an ounce and traded at $941.51 by 11:15 a.m. local time. It rose the most in two weeks on Wednesday and has climbed 3.6 percent this week. April futures added $1, or 0.1 percent, to $945.50 in electronic trading on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Spot gold traded at $940.40 per ounce at 07:03 GMT, up just 0.2 percent from New York's notional close on Wednesday. “With little sign of a letup in the flows of investment demand entering the market, we remain confident gold will set a new all-time high within the next few months,” said James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com in London. Source: TN, Bloomberg