On February 15th (the 6th day of the Lunar New Year), Saigon Jewelry Company (SJC) listed the price of SJC gold at 76 million VND per tael for buying and 78.3 million VND per tael for selling, a decrease of about 600,000 VND per tael compared to before the Tet holiday. The DOJI Group traded SJC gold at around 75.95 million VND per tael for buying and 78.25 million VND per tael for selling.
Some gold shops listed the price of SJC gold at around 77.2 – 77.7 million VND per tael (buying-selling). Therefore, after large gold enterprises resumed trading, the price of SJC gold has significantly narrowed the gap between the free market and the officially licensed points for buying and selling SJC gold bars.
Meanwhile, the price of 24K gold rings and jewelry remained stable at around 63.2 million VND per tael for buying and 64.4 million VND per tael for selling.
Gold ring prices increase more than SJC gold in 2023
In the context of high domestic gold prices, many people wonder if precious metals have the momentum to continue increasing. If you hold gold, should you buy gold rings or SJC gold? Mr. Nguyen The Hung, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Gold Business Association (VGB), analyzed that the price of gold usually increases significantly from the pre-Tet period to the God of Wealth day (the 10th day of the Lunar New Year). Therefore, buying at this time is quite risky.
“Because gold rings follow the world price, and in 2024, the price of precious metals in the international market is predicted to continue rising as the US Federal Reserve (FED) begins its interest rate cut cycle. As for SJC gold, the difference is too high compared to the world price, which is very risky,” said Nguyen The Hung.
Gold expert Tran Duy Phuong also believes that the significant risk factor of the domestic gold price is the large gap with the world price. If gold rings are priced higher than the world price by about 3-4 million VND per tael, the price of SJC gold is often higher than the world price by 17-19 million VND per tael. In case the management agency intervenes to stabilize the gold market, the price difference between domestic and international gold will narrow significantly, possibly only about 10 million VND per tael, meaning that the price of SJC gold will decrease sharply.
“With various types of 24K gold rings, even if they decrease, the decrease will be less than that of SJC gold. At the same time, the price of gold rings is about 3-4 million VND higher than the world price, much lower than the large gap between SJC gold and the world price, so the risk will be lower,” said Phuong.
Regarding the ratio of holding gold in the asset portfolio, VGB expert believes that in investment principle of not putting all eggs in one basket, having a ratio of gold as a safe investment channel is necessary. However, the specific ratio and the buying price depend on each person’s risk appetite.
At the end of 2023, the price of SJC gold closed at 76 million VND per tael, while the price of various types of 24K gold rings closed at 63 million VND per tael, both increasing by about 9 million VND per tael. The increase of the price of SJC gold was about 13.4%, while the increase of the price of gold rings was about 16.6%, which means a relatively high increase compared to savings deposits.
However, there were turbulent times for gold prices when the price of SJC gold increased rapidly from 70 million VND to over 80 million VND per tael, then plunged uncontrollably at the beginning of December 2023.
