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State Bank eyes black market in dollars
The street price of the US dollar has begun to rise despite the central bank's warning that it will investigate and tighten the monitoring of the currency market.
Gold too has rebounded as speculators began testing both markets.
The US currency returned to its upward trend with a VND30 increase to VND18,210-18,230 on Wednesday after two successive days of losses of VND50-80 per dollar.
The central bank listed the interbank rate at VND16,937 per dollar yesterday - up VND1 per dollar compared with Wednesday.
The commercial banks all listed their buying, transferring and selling price at VND17,784 per dollar - the upper limit of the official trading band. State Bank's Governor Nguyen Van Giau told Viet Nam News: "There has been speculation and accumulation on the forex market of late and this has made the dollar increasingly volatile."
The governor again noted that the trade surplus of US$1.65 billion at the end of the first quarter had also promoted a dollar inflow.
But banks complained that they were in short of US dollars because enterprises that earn their revenue in the currency do not want to sell it to the banks.
The dollar depreciated against the euro globally after Credit Suisse Group AG announced a return to profit at the end of the first quarter, spurring demand for higher-yielding currencies.
Domestic gold prices increased by VND70,000 ($3.95) per tael against Wednesday's closing prices to about VND19.6-19.7 million ($1,107-1,112) per tael yesterday.
The rise followed a higher gold price. The Sai Gon Jewellery Holding Co and Bao Tin Minh Chau Jewellery Co listed the buying and selling price at about VND19.58-19.69 million per tael.
The Phu Quy Jewellery Co traded its gold leaf at VND19.59-19.66 per tael.
Sacombank, Eximbank traded gold at about VND19.58-19.68 million per tael.
But the modest number of investors returning to the gold market ensured price stability.
Bao Tin Minh Chau business manager Nguyen Huu Dang said: "The current prices do not encourage people to sell or buy gold.
"Gold holders expect the domestic price to go to about VND20 million per tael before they sell, while buyers are waiting for it to fall to VND19 million per tael before they purchase," he said.
The global gold price added to the gains from the previous session sparked by worries about the global economy and the financial industry as well as buying by the world's major consumer, India.
The precious metal traded at $891.50 per ounce, up 0.3 per cent from the notional close in New York of $889.15, but the market was said to lack sufficient momentum to push toward the key $900.
VietNamNet, Viet Nam News
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