Gold bar price hits record, transactions in Nghe An fluctuate in opposite directions

On the morning of May 5, SJC gold price increased sharply, opposite to the world gold price, approaching 86 million VND/tael (sell) and 83.5 million VND/tael (buy). An increase of about 800,000 VND/tael compared to the end of last week. This is the highest price of SJC gold ever.

Previously, people were cautious before the gold bar auction event, many investors waited.gold bar priceAfter the auctions, the sellers were hesitant to make the transaction. However, in reality, the gold bar auction did not go as expected. After 4 auctions, the State Bank only successfully sold in 1 session, with a modest sale volume of only 3,400 taels. The limited supply of gold bars in the market, while the demand is constantly increasing, has pushed the gold price up.

In addition, the price of SJC gold bars increased because the world gold price is forecast to continue to increase sharply by the end of 2024 and possibly in the following years. Many forecasts say that gold will reach 2,500 USD/ounce by the end of this year. Most experts still predict that gold is in an upward trend in the long term, possibly even reaching 3,000 USD/ounce next year and 10,000 USD/ounce in the next few years (equivalent to 308 million VND/tael calculated at the exchange rate of 25,458 VND/USD).

If at the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, the price of SJC gold bars was higher than the converted world price (including taxes and fees) by up to 18-20 million VND/tael. The difference was then reduced to 11-12 million VND/tael in the third week of April before the first gold auction took place. However, the difference with the world price increased again, by the end of the afternoon of May 3, the difference reached nearly 14.6 million VND/tael.

While gold trading enterprises have been cautious and have not actively participated in the auctions, the demand for gold from the people has shown signs of increasing again. At gold trading units, the number of people coming to trade has become more crowded than at the end of April.

Mr. Truong Hong Phuc, an employee at a gold shop on Le Loi Street, said: “People are buying more gold as they are less cautious about the possibility of a sharp drop in the price of SJC gold bars and the gap with world gold being pulled down if the State Bank sells a large amount of gold to the market through bidding. Many people have taken the opportunity to sell gold bars to make a profit, while on the other hand, many people do not hesitate to buy for investment when it is predicted that the price of gold will increase in the future.”

Meanwhile, the price of gold rings tends to decrease slightly, many people also take advantage of buying gold rings to store. Specifically, the price of gold rings listed at gold and silver businesses is 72 million VND/tael (buy) and 75.4 million VND/tael (sell).

“According to experts’ analysis, the price of gold may decrease 1-2 months in a cycle and will likely increase sharply at the end of this year and in the following years. Therefore, I still choose gold as an asset to store. Currently, gold bars are at a high level, going against the world gold price, while the price of gold rings has decreased slightly. Therefore, I put my money into buying gold rings to store,” said Ms. Nguyen Trang Anh, a customer.

According to records at gold shops, during the last 2 days of the weekend (May 4-5), the number of customers transacting increased sharply. Accordingly, the number of customers coming to transact increased by about 20% compared to the previous week, of which, customers buying gold accounted for about 65% and customers selling was 35%.

It is worth noting that the price of SJC gold bars as well as 9999 gold rings at some stores have not yet been publicly listed on the price list, most customers are only informed of the price when they come to make a transaction.

"According to experts' analysis, there are many factors in 2024 that will likely push gold prices higher. Geopolitical tensions, interest rate cuts, central bank purchases to store gold reserves and other factors affect expectations of continued gold price increases.

Therefore, if people have idle capital, they can invest in gold in the long term, but they should not borrow money to buy gold for storage, nor should they "surf" gold at this time when there are many potential risks," Mr. Nguyen Duy De - Director of Agribank North Central Gold Branch, headquartered in Nghe An, advised.