State Bank still pumping gold into market
A woman buys gold jewellery at a SJC store in HCM City. The State Bank of Viet Nam yesterday injected 40,000 tales into the market at its weekly auction. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoang Hai
HA NOI (VNS)— The State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) yesterday injected 40,000 tales of gold into the market at its weekly auction, 50 per cent more than previous auctions.
However, only 26,000 taels were bought at the 36th auction with participation of eight credit institutions.
The SBV set the reference price at VND38.65 million (US$1,840) per tael, VND550,000 more than the current market price.
The auction was one of the last to be held before June 30, the deadline for banks to return all gold deposits to investors. It’s estimated that more than ten out of 18 credit institutions have completed their gold deposit returns.
The auctions, which started in March this year, are expected to stabilise the gold market in Viet Nam, the largest buyer of gold in Southeast Asia after Thailand, and narrow the gap between domestic and global prices.
An SBV leader said that it would not extend the deadline again and would have contingency plans for those who failed to comply.
To date, the SBV has held 36 auctions offering 1,018,000 tales, 917,000 of which have been sold.
At 16:30 yesterday, SJC gold in HCM City was being bought at VND36 million per tale, a drop of VND1.15 million compared with the day before, while gold was being sold at VND36.65 million per tael, a cut of about VND900,000.
Kitco, an international company trading in gold and other precious metals, was selling gold for $1,239 an ounce, about 5.75 million lower than the current Vietnamese price. — VNS