Saigon Jewelry Company listed the price of SJC gold at VND55.05 million per tael for buying and VND55.5 million per tael for selling, down by VND570,000 per tael for both buying and selling rates at 4 p.m. in Ho Chi Minh City.

At the same time in Hanoi, Bao Tin Minh Chau Company quoted SJC gold at VND55.1 million per tael for buying and VND55.5 million per tael for selling, down VND650,000 per tael in buying rate and VND520,000 per tael for selling.

In the global gold market, the heavy metal plunged by up to US$36 ounce to $1,832 an ounce, the lowest level in the past four months, at around 9 a.m. Vietnamese time. According to gold experts, the global gold price declined sharply as the UK pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca announced that it had developed a vaccine that could prevent 90 percent of Covid-19 infection.

This announcement urged investors to sell gold heavily because the traditional role as a safe-haven of precious metal will decrease sharply when the pandemic is under control. The global gold price was equivalent to VND51.4 million per tael, more than VND4 million per tael lower than the domestic one after conversion.