At 3 PM this afternoon, at Saigon Jewelry Company (SJC) in Ho Chi Minh City, more than a dozen customers were waiting in line to buy or sell SJC gold bars or 99.99% pure gold rings.

Notably, instead of having to register online to buy SJC gold bars as in previous days, today customers will press a button to enter a number and wait for their turn to transact.

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Customers buying gold at Saigon Jewelry Company (SJC). Photo: Quoc Hai

According to a staff member at SJC, customers can buy "unlimited quantities" of SJC gold bars. However, for gold rings, each person is limited to a maximum of 5 taels (approximately 37.5 grams).

"Yesterday, customers could buy a maximum of 10 taels of gold rings, but today they can only buy 5 taels," said an employee here.

According to reports, the price of gold bars at SJC at 3 PM this afternoon simultaneously decreased by another 100,000 VND per ounce for buying and 400,000 VND per ounce for selling compared to the end of last week. The difference between buying and selling prices has widened to 3.5 million VND/ounce, with trading prices at 81.9-85.4 million VND/ounce (buying - selling).

Gold ring prices traded at 81.8-84.3 million VND/ounce (buying price - selling price), a further decrease of 200,000 VND/ounce in the buying price and 600,000 VND in the selling price.

The price of SJC gold bars at PNJ and DOJI is listed similarly to that of SJC.

The jewelry store limits the quantity sold to each customer.

Meanwhile, some other gold shops have implemented limits on the quantity they can sell.

At Mi Hong store (Binh Thanh district, Ho Chi Minh City), the listed price for SJC gold bars is 82.8-85.4 million VND/ounce (buying price - selling price). The buying price for gold rings is 82.5 million VND/ounce, and the selling price is 84.5 million VND/ounce. Observations indicate that the number of people wanting to buy gold is significantly higher.

In the morning, each customer can buy 1-2 taels of gold rings or 1 tael of gold bars. For customers wishing to sell gold, the store continues to buy as usual. However, in the early afternoon, the store begins to limit each customer to buying only 1 tael of gold rings. Staff refuse to sell to customers who wish to buy 2 taels or more.

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Gold prices continue to fall, Mi Hong store limits sales of gold rings. Photo: Quoc Hai

At times, this gold shop temporarily runs out of plain gold rings, and gold bars are almost completely sold out. This gold shop does not accept deposits in advance; customers who want to buy gold have to queue up and wait, essentially on a "hit or miss" basis.

“I lined up to buy 2 taels of gold when I saw the price was falling, but they only let me buy 1 tael. Tomorrow, if the price remains the same or doesn't fluctuate too much, I will line up again to buy,” said Mr. Tran Thanh Hau (Binh Thanh district).

The owner of a gold shop on Bui Huu Nghia Street also confirmed that after people rushed to sell on November 7th, the price of gold dropped to a low level from yesterday afternoon until now, so many people have taken advantage of the opportunity to buy.

"The gold we collected on November 7th is being sold again, but currently we are only selling it in limited quantities, one tael of gold per person per ring," this person said.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Huu Huan from the Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics stated that a characteristic of the Vietnamese gold market is the lack of centralized and transparent gold exchanges; instead, it is primarily dominated by gold shops. Therefore, buying and selling prices are set by these shops. This creates "market makers," and consumers buying and selling gold are merely acceptors, not decision-makers.

Mr. Huan believes that the tendency to rush to sell when gold prices fall and to buy when prices rise is a common mentality among many people.

"We hear that gold prices are rising, but we forget that when we buy, we follow the gold shop's selling price, and when we sell, we follow their buying price. Therefore, if you buy gold as a way to diversify your assets, there's no problem, but if you buy it to wait for the price to rise before reselling, you should be cautious," Mr. Huan noted.

Gold prices rebounded after a day of sharp declines, and people rushed to buy again.

Gold prices rebounded after a day of sharp declines, and people rushed to buy again.

Gold prices have risen again, but in Ho Chi Minh City this morning there was no longer the rush of people selling gold like yesterday afternoon. Overall, selling pressure still outweighs buying pressure.
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Authorities uncover fraudulent bidding documents for a project in Khanh Hoa.

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