At the end of the session on March 21, the price of gold bars at SJC closed at 94.7-97.7 million VND/tael (buy - sell), down 3.1 million VND per tael for buying and down 2.1 million VND per tael for selling compared to the previous trading session.

The price of SJC 1-5 chi gold rings is listed at 94.6-97.3 million VND/tael (buy - sell), down 3.1 million VND per tael for buying and down 2.4 million VND per tael for selling compared to the closing price on March 20.

The price of 9999 gold rings at Doji closed the session at 95.9-98.5 million VND/tael, down 2.8 million VND per tael for buying and down 1.7 million VND per tael for selling compared to the previous day's closing price.

Today's gold price on Kitco at 8:00 p.m. (March 21, Vietnam time) was trading at $3,034/ounce, down 0.33% from the beginning of the session. Gold futures for April 2025 delivery on the Comex New York floor were trading at $3,040/ounce.

Gold prices were mostly steady in early Friday trading in the United States amid no major news developments. The market saw profit-taking pressure from short-term futures contracts ahead of the weekend session. However, investors were quick to buy as gold prices fell.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the greenback's movements against six major currencies (EUR, JPY, GBP, CAD, SEK, CHF), rose slightly to 103.88 points.

Nymex crude oil futures edged lower and traded around $67.75 a barrel. The current yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note is 4.214%.

Speculators are taking advantage of the market and making money, said Alex Ebkarian, CEO of Allegiance Gold. He said that whenever gold peaks, the market sees resistance. Gold has not yet fulfilled its traditional role as a safe-haven asset.

“Technically, gold hasn’t even started acting as a safe haven for retail investors. We’re seeing an economic slowdown. That could create more uncertainty and more demand for safe havens,” he said.

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Domestic gold prices decrease. Photo: Thach Thao

Earlier, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) concluded its Open Market Committee meeting in March. Members voted unanimously to maintain interest rates at the current level of 4.25% to 4.5%.

In a subsequent press conference, Fed Chairman Powell shared concerns about the current administration’s trade policies, which may have contributed to slowing US economic growth while increasing inflationary pressures.

In their official statement, Fed officials forecast slowing economic growth and rising inflation, highlighting concerns about the Trump administration’s approach to trade. The “ambitious and often erratic” policies have put both the economy and the Fed’s ability to maintain stability under increasing pressure.

Markets are betting the Fed will make at least two 25 basis point rate cuts, with the first cut coming in July 2025.

With import tariffs from Canada and Mexico fixed at 25% and 20% on Chinese imports, investors around the world are bracing for the inevitable impact of higher prices and retaliatory measures by other countries in response.

Gold Price Forecast

Central banks were the main buyers behind last year’s gold rally, said Daniel Ghali, senior commodity strategist at TD Securities. This year, the main drivers are currency depreciation and risk-off sentiment.

The trend toward de-dollarization has intensified since sanctions on Russia and countries seeking to diversify away from the dollar have been buying gold this year as a hedge against currency depreciation, Ghali said.

The precious metal has broken records 16 times and surpassed the important threshold of $3,000/ounce four times. Gold is considered a safe haven against geopolitical and economic fluctuations, and tends to increase in price when interest rates are low.

Capital Markets analyst Kyle Rodda predicts that gold prices could fall to around $3,000 an ounce before rising again. This is a necessary correction to create further upward momentum.

According to Citi analysts, the optimistic scenario shows that gold prices could reach $3,500/ounce by the end of the year.

After the gold rush plunged to 80 million/tael, will the 2011 shock scenario repeat itself? More than a decade has passed, and the market has witnessed another "rebellion" of gold. Forecasts of gold falling from 100 million/tael to 80 million VND have become out of place. However, the lessons from the 2011 shock are still there.