After four months of a slowdown, the domestic gold price last week fluctuated strongly. Just within several hours, the gold price dropped by VND2-3 million per tael, but then surged again by several million dong.

On July 18, SJC 9999 gold dropped by VND5.35 million per tael. On July 19, the SJC gold buying price decreased by VND3.5 million per tael, while the selling price fell by VND3 million.

Within two days, July 18-19, gold lost VND7-8 million per tael in value.  SJC Hanoi 9999 gold dropped from VND67.35 million (buy) and VND67.97 million (sell) on July 17 to VND60 million (buy) and VND62.5 million (sell).

But after that, gold prices bounced back. On July 20, SJC 9999 gold saw sharp rises of VND4.7 million (buy) and 4.02 million (sell). Meanwhile, Doji gold price rose by VND5.8 million (buy) and 3 million (sell) compared with July 19.

On July 21, the SJC 9999 gold price unexpectedly dropped by VND1.7 million (buy) and VND1.5 million (sell).

However, gold prices have not fluctuated heavily this week. Only slight fluctuations of VND100,000-500,000 per tael have been reported.

Doji gold prices fluctuated strongly on July 26, when the buying price dropped by VND1.5 million per tael and selling price by VND700,000.

Closing the July 28 trading session, SJC gold traded at VND65-66.02 million per tael (buy and sell), while Doji gold was VND63.5-65.5 million.

While the gold price fluctuations were minor, the gap between selling and buying prices was wide.

Analysts noted that the price gap has widened over the last few years. In March 2022, the price gap of SJV was higher than VND2 million. At some moments, the price gap was up to VND3 million. This meant that if buyers bought gold for one dong, they would need to sell for three dong to make a profit.

The SJC gold price gap last week reached VND2.52 million per tael and then narrowed to VND1 million.

However, the price gap of Doji gold is still wide, at VND2 million per tael (VND63.5-65.5 million)

When the market fluctuates, gold trading companies tend to widen the buy-sell price gap in order to minimize risks. However, VND2 million per tael is an abnormally high level, as the price gap on trading floors is just one dollar (VND23,000).

There is still no gold trading floor in Vietnam. The buy/sell prices are determined by gold trading companies.

Hanh Nguyen