After hitting VND29.03 million per tael (selling) at 11.29am, it went down to VND28.2 million per tael at 1.30pm. One hour later, it dropped by another VND700,000 to VND26.7 million per tael (buying) and to VND27.5 million per tael (selling).

Gold traders said that when the gold price hit a peak of VND29 million per tael, a large amount of gold was sold, causing a sharp drop. They reaffirmed that the gold price should not have been that high.

One reason is that speculators pushed gold prices up to make a fat profit, even though the world price stayed at nearly VND3 million lower than the domestic one.

Some jewelry companies said they were running out of gold and had to stop transaction. Sacombank sold out 300kg of gold (around 8,000 taels), and PNJ 6,000-7,000 taels in the morning. 

In the meantime, gold prices in Ho Chi Minh City also shot up.

It seems the gold market has spun out of control, according to some businesses.

ACB General Director Ly Xuan Hai said that it is high time for the State Bank of Vietnam to find effective measures to prevent price hikes.