Three days ahead of the God of Wealth Day, or the 10th day of the first lunar month, crowds lined up for hours at Hanoi’s gold shops to purchase this precious metal in hopes of securing luck and prosperity for the year ahead.

By 8:00 am on Tuesday, Tran Nhan Tong Street, known as the capital city’s ‘gold street’ due to its concentration of gold shops, was already bustling with customers.

Among those in line was Nguyen Thi Mui, who shared that she had been waiting for over an hour before finally purchasing half a tael of plain gold rings. 

Though the God of Wealth Day officially falls on Friday this week, she wanted to secure her purchase early despite record-high prices.

Similarly, Le Minh Hung from Ha Dong District estimated he would have to wait two hours to buy 0.1 tael of gold ring, a ritual he has followed for nearly a decade.

"Gold prices are at an all-time high, but I still buy 0.1 tael every year for good luck," he said.

Not everyone was there to buy the precious metal.

Nguyen Thanh Lam from the outlying district of Phuc Tho was selling off three taels of SJC-branded gold, which he had saved for years, to fund the construction of a new house. 

"With gold prices hitting VND88.1 million [US$3,496] per tael, I’m making a decent profit," he said, recalling that he had bought it for just VND56 million ($2,223) per tael in 2021.

Between 9:00 am and 11:00 am on Tuesday, SJC-branded gold bars were trading at VND88.1 million ($3,496) per tael for buying and VND90.6 million ($3,590) per tael for selling at major Vietnamese gold retailers like Bao Tin Minh Chau, Saigon Jewelry Company (SJC), and Phu Quy.

For plain gold rings, Bao Tin Minh Chau listed buying prices at VND88.6 million ($3,512) per tael and selling rates at VND90.55 million ($3,590) per tael.

Meanwhile, SJC gold rings were priced at VND88.1 million ($3,496) per tael for buying and VND90.1 million ($3,572) per tael for selling.

Employees at these gold shops noted that customers were free to buy or sell in any quantity based on their personal needs.

On the global market, gold prices hit a record $2,818 per ounce, driven by heightened safe-haven demand. 

Investors, concerned about inflation and economic uncertainty, reacted to U.S. tariff policies on imports from China, Canada, and Mexico, fueling gold’s surge.

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