Gold price tumbles, greenback flat
Gold price tumbles, greenback flat
The domestic gold price continued falling to under VND36.5 million per tael today, April 2, while the U.S. dollar price remained stable, backed by the large supply on the market.
Saigon Jewelry Company (SJC) in the afternoon quoted the yellow metal at less than VND36.5 billion, having repeatedly revised down the price in the morning. A tael is equal to 1.2 troy ounces.
Other gold trading firms in HCMC, meanwhile, quoted a tael of gold at VND36.32 million for buying and VND36.48 million for selling, down by VND40,000 compared with Monday.
Gold in the country has tumbled steadily over the past week, shedding by some VND350,000 per tael to their lowest level since the end of last year.
Despite the steep decline in Vietnam, gold remained stable at under US$1,300 per ounce on the world market. At 1 p.m., the gold price was recorded at US$1,287 per ounce, unchanged from the previous session.
Ending the first quarter of 2019, the global gold price lost a slight US$16 per ounce, from US$1,293 to US$1,287. It peaked at US$1,320 in the January-March period.
However, some experts have predicted the gold price will bounce back in the following quarters, reaching US$1,300 and US$1,324 per ounce.
At present, the global gold price is around VND36 million per tael equivalent, VND500,000 lower than SJC's gold.
Meanwhile, the Vietnamese dong-U.S. dollar exchange rate is stable. The State Bank of Vietnam today put the central reference rate at VND22,976, the same as that on Monday.
In recent days, local banks have kept the greenback prices low, at VND23,150 for buying and VND23,250 for selling.
According to the central bank, the U.S. dollar price and the foreign exchange market were stabilized in the first three months of this year thanks to the strong dollar supply and high liquidity on the market. Local credit institutions continued net buying foreign currencies from customers, enabling the central bank to improve its foreign reserves.
Besides this, the large dollar supply helped secure stable foreign currency liquidity among local banks, with the dollar price making little change since early this year.
HCMC alone reported some US$1.2 billion in overseas remittances from January to March. During the quarter, the nation saw foreign direct investment disbursements reaching US$4.12 billion, up 6.2% over the same period last year.
