Vietnam gold price hits 6-year high

A person sorts gold bars. Photo by Reuters/Leonhard Foeger.

Gold prices in Vietnam soared to a six-year high on Monday amid rising military tension between the U.S. and Iran.

The country’s largest jewelry company DOJI sold its SJC gold at VND44.44 million ($1,924) per tael (1.2 ounces) on Monday morning, up 3.78 percent from Friday.

Another giant Phu Nhuan Jewelry also raised its selling price to VND44.3 million ($1,918), up 4.7 percent.

It is the first time Vietnam’s gold price passed the VND44.4 million ($1,922) mark in the last six years.

The surge came as global gold prices increased by up to 1.8 percent to $1,579 per ounce at a point on Monday morning, the highest in seven years.

The sudden rush for safe haven assets came after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a strike that killed Iran’s General Qasem Soleimani, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, on Friday. Iran has vowed to retaliate.

Gold prices had been surging throughout last year as trade tensions between the U.S. and China persisted.