Why are SJC gold and jewelry gold prices at their highest levels in 2023?

At 10:00 a.m., SJC gold prices were listed by businesses at VND68.5 million/tael for buying and VND69.2 million/tael for selling, down VND100,000/tael compared to yesterday. Similarly, jewelry gold prices and 24K gold rings of all kinds were also traded at around VND57 million/tael for buying and VND57.95 million/tael for selling.

Domestic gold prices fell again after reaching their highest level since the beginning of the year.

Meanwhile, the central exchange rate listed by the State Bank is 24,063 VND/USD, down 16 VND/USD compared to yesterday. The USD price at commercial banks is traded around 24,140 VND/USD for buying and 24,480 VND/USD for selling, down sharply 70 VND/USD compared to yesterday.

Vì sao giá vàng SJC, vàng trang sức đều đang ở mức cao nhất trong năm 2023? - Ảnh 1.

Bank and free USD prices both went down this morning

In the free market, the USD price also cooled down when some foreign exchange points traded at 24,320 VND/USD for buying and 24,370 VND/USD for selling, down about 50 VND/USD compared to yesterday.

Both domestic gold prices and USD prices in banks cooled down after the US Federal Reserve (FED) announced to keep interest rates unchanged at 5.25 - 5.5% at its September meeting, although this level is still the highest in the past 22 years.

According to analysts' forecasts, the FED is likely to raise interest rates once more this year, then cut interest rates twice in 2024 - two fewer than the forecast in June 2023.

Commenting on the FED's move, Mr. Quan Trong Thanh, Director of Research and Analysis, Maybank Securities Company, said that the above developments were appropriate and as expected by the market.

The direction of another interest rate hike around November also creates space for the FED to both assess new economic developments and act if necessary without surprising the market. With this statement from the FED, it is possible to see the peak of the FED interest rate around 5.5% - 5.75%, both gradually achieving the 2% inflation target and avoiding a severe recession.

Regarding the impact on the economy, Maybank experts believe that in policies to attract FDI, a stable exchange rate (not fluctuating too much each year) is a necessary factor. Having partly identified the peak of the FED interest rate as directed above, the State Bank can quantify its actions to intervene to keep the USD/VND exchange rate stable according to the target (+/-3% per year).

Regarding the development of domestic gold prices in recent days, gold expert Tran Duy Phuong said that the price of 24K gold rings and jewelry gold reached an all-time high due to the impact of international factors, when the world gold price increased and the USD recovered strongly. The demand for buying gold rings is also higher than SJC gold. However, because the supply of SJC gold is scarcer, just a slight increase in demand will cause SJC gold to increase. This explains why both SJC gold and jewelry gold are at their highest levels in 2023.

Source