Apr 1, 2009

Dollar cools after one-day spike



HA NOI — The greenback climbed as high as VND18,000 on the streets yesterday straight after the daily trading band for USD/VND was increased to +/-5 per cent, but cost less later as speculative business cooled.

The parallel market was busy after the decision to widen the trading band was released and pushed the cost of a dollar from VND17,950-18,000, up about VND300 against early Tuesday.

As usual, before the central bank widened the trading band, a flux of speculators tried to buy the dollar, hoping to sell for a profit.

The dollar was not hot for long as investors realised its value on global markets was depreciating sharply against other strong currencies.

Dollar trading on the black market slowed and a dollar cost about VND17,780-17,850, down VND150 from the morning.

On the banking market, the State Bank of Viet Nam yesterday listed the interbank rate at VND16,980 per dollar, which meant commercial banks were not allowed to charge buyers more than VND17,829 per dollar.

Many banks traded the dollar near the cap. Vietcombank listed buying/selling prices at VNÑ17,640-17,825 per dollar. Eximbank at VNÑ17,680-17,829 per dollar and VP Bank at 17,500 – 17,829.

Several enterprises reported to Vieät Nam News that they were able to buy the dollar at listed prices on banking market without a volume limitation.

By the end of yesterday, prices of a dollar on the black and banking markets were nearly identical.

The wider trading band was expected to produce more flexibility in the USD/VNÑ exchange rate while more accurately reflecting supply and demand in the market.

Gold stands up

Gold reached as high as VNÑ20 million ($1,123) per tael late yesterday as a dip in the US dollar led investors to buy back the precious metal. A tael equals 1.2 troy ounces.

Late yesterday, the general domestic price for gold was up about VNÑ30,000 per tael from earlier in the day.

At Baûo Tín Minh Chaâu Jewellery Co (BTMC), gold traded for about VNÑ19.93-20.03 million ($1.119-1,125) per tael, while at the Saøi Goøn Jewellery Holding Co, it was about VNÑ19.90/20.00 million ($1,117-1,123) per tael.

On gold trading exchanges across Haø Noäi, gold was VNÑ19.90-20.14 million ($1,117-1,131) per tael.

With the higher prices, there was no marked change in the number of potential buyers.

Globally, gold was at $942 per ounce at 0606 GMT, up 0.5 per cent from New York’s notional close of $937.15 on Monday, when it fell more than 1 per cent as investors moved from safe-haven investments. — VNS

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