After the US Federal Reserve decided to raise benchmark interest rate to 0.25 percent on December 17, the price of gold in Vietnam resumed losing trend.

Saigon Jewelry Company bought gold at VND32.79 million per tael, and sold at VND33.06 million per tael, down VND40,000 per tael in buying price and VND20,000 per tael in selling price compared to that in the previous day.

Doji Gems and Gold Group purchased gold at VND32.96 million per tael and sold at VND33.02 per tael, a decrease of VND30,000 per tael over the previous day.

The US dollar exchange rate on the same day still stayed at ceiling price of VND22,547 per dollar. However, dollar buying prices at some banks declined. For instance, Vietinbank lowered VND10 per dollar to buy at VND22,510 per dollar; and Eximbank cut VND3 per dollar to buy at VND22,517 per dollar.

Meanwhile, on free market in Ho Chi Minh City, dollars were bought at VND22,730 per dollar, up VND50 per dollar, and sold at VND22,800 per dollar, up VND20 per dollar.

The Vietnam’s stock market on December 17 became more vibrant than that on previous days. The Vietnam’s benchmark VN-Index gained 4.56 points to close at 577.11 points. Of the index, there were 130 winners, 77 losers, while 101 stocks remained unchanged.

The VN30-Index rallied 2.5 points to 586.47 points with 21 winners, 6 losers, and 3 stocks were unmoved.

The HNX-Index of the smaller bourse in the north edged up 0.16 points to 79.33 points with 90 stocks advancing, 94 declining, and 191 treading water.

The HNX30-Index added 0.75 points to 140.85 points. Among the index members, 9 stocks increased, 12 decreased, while 12 were unchanged.