The gold price in the Vietnamese market increased by VND1.9 million (US$91) per tael in today evening, selling at VND37 million ($1,778) a tael, making the current gap with the world price expand to almost US$288 a tael.

Before the increase, the domestic gold price was $240 a tael more expensive than its world counterpart.

By 5:30pm, the Saigon Jewelry Company (SJC) gold was sold at VND37 million a tael and bought at VND700,000 ($33.6) fewer per tael.

The increase halted the falling momentum of gold price in the domestic market. In the early Friday morning, the local gold price was sold at VND35.1 million ($1,688) a tael and bought at VND34.4 million a tael – down VND1.5 million against the previous day.

In the mean time, the world gold price in the Asian market made a slight increase from $2-8 an ounce, priced at $1,200/ounce.

In a relevant note, 40,000 SJC taels in an auction organized today morning by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) were swept away by traders.

From March 28 to June 28 this year, SBV organized 37 gold auctions and sold out 957,000 taels.