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| Gold buyers in this file photo queue up at a gold shop of Bao Tin Minh Chau Co. in Hanoi - Photo: Thanh Thuong |
HCMC – Locals on Wednesday still rushed to buy gold to wish for good luck on the occasion of the God of Wealth Day, the tenth day of the Lunar New Year.
According to local folklore, the God of Wealth returns to heaven on the tenth day of the first lunar month every year. Vietnamese people consider this the God of Wealth Day, thus often buy gold to wish for good luck and prosperity.
Saigon Jewelry Holding Co. (SJC)’s headquarters recorded busy retail trading, but few customers bought more than five taels. A tael is equal to 1.2 troy ounces.
Truong Cong An, vice head of jewelry sales department of SJC, said some 700 taels were sold in Wednesday morning alone, equal to the sales volume of the entire previous day. Most citizens bought from five candareens to two maces. A candareen is one tenth of a mace, ten of which make up one tael.
In addition, owners of many gold shops also went to SJC’s headquarters to exchange one-tael gold bars for smaller bars to resell to their customers.
Nguyen Thi Cuc, deputy general director of Phu Nhuan Jewelry Co. (PNJ), said there was a drastic surge in demand on Wednesday, mostly for small gold bars and rings. The retail sales volume accounted for some 60% of the total gold amount that PNJ sold on Wednesday.
Cuc said her company had prepared a large amount of lightweight gold bars to satisfy people’s demand.
Meanwhile in Hanoi, Bao Tin Minh Chau Jewelry Co. said many branches of the company witnessed queues of customers waiting for their turns to buy gold. Unlike HCMC, Hanoi’s citizens preferred rings to gold bars, crowding at the areas around Bui Thi Xuan and Tran Nhan Tong streets.
SJC on Wednesday quoted gold prices at VND45 million per tael for buying and VND45.3 million a tael for selling, dipping VND30,000 over the day before.
