Bullion was bought at VND22.08 million and sold at around VND22.17 million.

Most investors started to buy gold but are yet to heavily boost buying volume as they expect prices to fall further. The extraordinary movements of global gold price, however, brought heat to gold exchanges.

On the SBJ trading floor, nearly 295,560 taels changed hands at VND21.38 million to VND21.89 million by 10am local time.

Globally, the metal sank to below US$1,000 an ounce as the US government announced that sales of existing homes sharply fell, which raised suspicions on the rate of the economic recovery, causing commodities’ prices to go down.

In New York, gold futures for October delivery slid as much as USD15.5 an ounce, 1.5 percent, to USD 998.9 an ounce. Earlier, the metal sank to USD991.3 an ounce, the lowest level since September 10.

Spot gold fell to USD995.3 an ounce from USD1,007.05 an ounce.

SPDR Gold Trust, the biggest exchange-traded fund backed by gold, sold 7.63 metric tons in 24th Sep 2009, sending its holdings to 1,094.11 metric tons, the firm’s website showed. The US Federal Reserve System decided to keep its target lending rate at a record low between at zero and 0.25 percent.

The US Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s value, advanced 1.3 percent, the highest rally within the last three months.

Crude oil dived to an eight-week low. Crude oil futures for November settlement declined USD3.08 a barrel to USD65.89 a barrel, the lowest closing price since July 29. A report by the US Energy Department said its crude oil reserve rose by 2.8 million barrels last week.