Tet holiday, high prices, Nghe An gold market begins to bustle
(Baonghean.vn) - At the end of the year, ending a year of business, is also the time when remittances from children working far away are sent home, many Nghe An people choose gold as an investment and accumulation channel. Therefore, although the gold price is high at this time, the market is quite active.
Having just received 300 million VND from her son working far away, Ms. Trinh Thi Hoa (Phat Son village, Dai Dong commune, Thanh Chuong) went to a reputable gold shop in Vinh city to buy 4 taels of 9999 gold. Although according to her, the price of plain round gold rings is quite high this time (6.5 million VND/tael), but now the interest rate is low when depositing in the bank, while that amount of money is not enough to invest in real estate. Therefore, she chose to buy gold for storage.
“Buying gold is a reserve asset, just for saving, but it is difficult to make much profit. But compared to depositing in the bank or lending money for interest, gold is safer. I do not buy it for speculation, so I am not too worried about daily price fluctuations,” said Ms. Trinh Thi Hoa.
Specializing in seafood, after selling all the last batch of goods of the year, paying for the goods and wages to the employees, Ms. Hoang Thi Ngoc (Quynh Phuong ward, Hoang Mai town) deducted the capital to import goods for the next batch, and invested all the remaining amount in gold.
According to her, monthly savings have low interest rates, while buying gold for investment, seeing profit or selling when needed. And according to forecasts, in 2024, gold prices will increase even more, so she boldly invested to see how it goes. “Investing in gold is not afraid of losing money. When I need money or get a good price, I sell. Now keeping cash is “dead money”, so I choose gold as a reserve asset,” Ms. Ngoc shared.
At this time, many people, after a year of doing business, trading, have extra money or are workers and civil servants receiving year-end bonuses, have also spent money to buy gold, some buy 1-2 taels, those with more money buy 4-5 taels or more.
Ms. Nguyen Phuong Oanh, owner of a gold shop on Cao Thang Street (Vinh City) said: “This time, the number of customers transacting at the counter increased by about 30% compared to before. Most of them are buyers, while there are fewer sellers. People buying gold mainly choose 9999 plain round rings instead of buying SJC gold bars. The reason is partly because the price of plain round rings is close to the world gold price, creating peace of mind in investing and storing; partly because plain round rings are suitable for people's investment amount, buying retail from 1-5 taels”.
In Nghe An, gold prices fluctuate according to world and domestic gold prices. Accordingly, gold prices reverse continuously every day, even having to adjust prices many times in one day.
Although the price of SJC gold bars, 9999 rings or jewelry gold is still high, according to a survey at gold shops in Nghe An, the number of customers coming to trade at the shops has increased by 10-20% compared to many previous months. However, in general, the gold market is still less vibrant than the same period in previous years.
In particular, if in the past, people chose to buy SJC gold bars, now round rings are popular. Because, in addition to the State's policies on gold bar monopoly, currently, the price of SJC gold is too different from the world gold price, the buying and selling margin is high (5-6 million VND/tael), while the price of 9999 smooth round rings is quite close to the world gold price, the buying and selling margin is narrow (only 1-1.2 million VND/tael).
Ms. Ho Thi Kim Dung, owner of a gold shop on Le Loi Street, said: “The price of gold remains high, but compared to previous months, the number of customers has increased by about 30%. Most customers have a greater need to buy jewelry products such as necklaces, rings, and earrings. In addition, the real estate market is currently sluggish, and bank deposit interest rates have decreased, so many people are buying gold for investment.”
According to gold shop owners, the closer it gets to Lunar New Year, the hotter the gold market will be, partly due to people's belief that "buy salt at the beginning of the year and gold at the end of the year"; on the other hand, the demand for buying gold for jewelry for Tet or as gifts, for storage, and for investment increases.
In addition, with many predictions that gold will set a new price level in early 2024, many people will use their idle money to invest in short-term gold. Currently, jewelry stores have also prepared a variety of gold product designs to meet people's needs.
