Gold surges, stocks drop after banker’s arrest

August 21st, 2012 08:25 am

Following news of the arrest of prominent banker and football tycoon Nguyen Duc Kien, gold prices in Vietnam surged to VND43.1 million per tael, up by VND500,000 per tael compared to yesterday while the stock market fell to the bottom.

The gold prices today morning rose although world prices did not change much. Many gold shops told Tuoi Tre they are surprised at the high demand for the precious metal.

The prices later slid down a bit to VND42.98 million at 4pm.

Meanwhile, the stock market was down after news of the arrest of Kien, who is a co-founder of Asian Commercial Bank (ACB) and shareholder of major banks like Eximbank, Sacombank and VietBank.

ACB, listed on the Hanoi Stock Exchange, and five other banks on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange all crashed to floor prices.

ACB’s share price plunged almost 7% to VND24,100 on the Hanoi Stock Exchange. The bank is 15% owned by Standard Chartered Plc.

Twenty-seven out of the 30 leading shares tracked by the VN30 Index in HCMC also fell to the bottom. The VN30 lost nearly 5% to close at 496.3 points, and the benchmark VN-Index was down 4.7% to finish at 416.84 points, according to VNN.

The HNX-Index in the north also fell 5.24% to 66.9 points.

Meanwhile, the State Bank of Vietnam told the public to remain calm and not withdraw money out of panic. The bank has pumped trillions of dong to support banks’ liquidity.


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