Gold declines further

Most gold shops bought the metal at VND34.3 million and sold at VND34.45 million, a decrease of VND500,000 over the previous day, as of 9:45 am local time.

Gold declined steeply, causing jewelers to be wary. Most gold shops extended the gap between buying and selling prices to nearly VND200,000 a tael from VND100,000 a tael the previous day.

Sacombank Jewelry Co. bought the metal at VND34.26million and sold at VND34.44 million.

Saigon Jewelry Co. purchased gold at VND34.35 million for buying and VND34.43 million for selling.

Meanwhile, Hanoi-based Phu Quy Jewelry bought SJC-brand gold at VND34.32 million and sold at VND34.46 million.

Bao Tin Minh Chau purchased gold at VND34.36 million and sold at VND34.5 million.

Domestically, gold fetched around VND600,000 a tael higher than global prices.

The dollar exchange rate on free market rebounded this morning. Dollars were bought at VND20,900 and sold at VND21,000 in Hanoi.

Internationally, gold retreated to the lowest level in the past two weeks as an escalating Irish debt crisis prompted investors to dump the euro, boosting the demand for the US dollar as a store of value.

Gold for immediate delivery shred $21.1 an ounce to trade at $1,340.4 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Earlier, the metal some time sank to $1,328.8 an ounce, the lowest level in the past two weeks. Gold hit an all-time high of $1,425.5 an ounce on November 9.

In Asia, gold kept sliding this morning. Bullion fell $6.5 an ounce over the closing price in New York to trade around $1,333.9 an ounce as of 9:45 am Vietnamese time.

This morning, the euro exchange rate against the greenback stood above $1.35 in Tokyo after dropping to the lowest level in the past seven weeks of below $1.34 a euro the previous day.

Crude oil futures for December delivery slipped $2.52 a barrel, or 3 per cent, to close at $82.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.