The precious metal traded at VND20.04 million a tael, or $937 per ounce, at the Saigon Jewelry Joint Stock Co., after spurting VND120,000. A tael is equal to 1.2 ounces or 37.5 grams.

In HCMC, it rose to an all-time high of VND20.05 million on March 20.

A stronger dollar and the fact that people stopped selling gold also boosted the metal Thursday, Huynh Trung Khanh, a Vietnamese consultant for the World Gold Council, said.

“Many investors are waiting for further rises,” he told Thanh Nien Daily.

Retail investors are still holding 800 tons of gold imported in the last 15 years, he said. Investors should keep a close watch on international prices, he added.

Gold rose for the first time in four days in London on Wednesday, reversing an earlier loss, as a weaker dollar boosted demand for the metal as an alternative investment.

Gold for immediate delivery climbed as much as $14.93, or 1.6 percent, to $940.80 an ounce and traded at $936.20 by 2:06 p.m. local time.

The metal was steady Thursday. Gold for immediate delivery added $2.63, or 0.3 percent, to $936.65 an ounce in London. April futures were little changed at $936.50 an ounce in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Comex division.

Spot gold was at $935.55 per ounce at 10:39 GMT, up slightly from $933.15 an ounce late in New York on Wednesday.

Bullion is 7 percent off the 11-month high above $1,000 set in February, and far below an all-time peak of $1,030.80 hit in March 2008.

"It really depends on what's going on in the currencies," said Wolfgang Wrzesniok-Rossbach, head of sales at Heraeus. "Plus the news on the broad economy and the financial system is what is driving the market at the moment."

Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange-traded fund backed by the metal, stood unchanged at a record 1,124.99 metric tons on Wednesday, according to figures on the company’s website. Assets in ETF Securities Ltd.’s exchange-traded commodities advanced to a record 7.2 million ounces as of March 24, data on the company’s website shows.

Source: Thanhnien News