Sacombank Jewelery Company adjusted the prices for the nine times in the day, buying gold at VND36.93 million and sold at VND36.99 million by 9:45 am local time.
At the same time, Saigon Jewelry Company, the biggest gold shop in Vietnam, bought the precious metal at VND36.92 million and sold at VND36.99 million, an increase of VND240,000 a tael over the previous day.
Meanwhile, Hanoi-based Phu Quy Jewelry purchased SJC-brand gold at VND36.93 million and sold at VND37.07 million.
Gold advanced for four consecutive days, gaining VND1 million over the beginning of this week.
Domestically, gold fetched VND600,000 a tael higher than global prices.
Although the interbank US dollar exchange rate sharply dropped this morning, the US dollar prices still jumped on free market and even touched VND22,000 per dollar.
The US dollar reference price applied on February 17 decreased by VND15 per dollar to VND20,683 from VND20,698 the previous day. Accordingly, commercial banks also reduced their exchange rate to below VND20,900. State-owned Vietcombank bought dollars at VND20,790 and sold at VND20,890.
On free market, some currency exchange agencies announced the rates at VND21,850 for buying and VND21,950 for selling by 9 am local time. However, the rates changed wildly as of 10 am, thus most agencies recommended their customers to wait until the rates become stable. Meanwhile, some other agencies announced a rate of VND22,000 per dollar or even higher.
Internationally, gold slightly rose as escalating Middle East and North Africa concerns boosted the demand for the precious metal as an alternative asset.
Gold for immediate delivery surged as much as $2 an ounce to close at $1,376.6 an ounce on the Comex in New York.
In Asia, gold inched up $1.2 an ounce to trade at $1,377.8 an ounce as of 9:30 am Vietnamese time.
The US dollar plummeted against other major currencies on speculation that Middle East’s riot would harm the US’s economy. The euro exchange rate against the greenback rallied to $1.36 a euro in Tokyo this morning, from $1.35 the previous day.
