Gold prices hit record high

State-owned Saigon Jewelry Company sold its popular SJC gold at VND52.98 ($2,285) per tael of 37.5 grams (1.2 ounces), up 2.9 percent from Tuesday.

The country’s largest jewelry company, DOJI, sold at 52.7 million ($2,294), up 1.9 percent.

Global prices went up by 0.9 percent on Wednesday to $1,857.86 per ounce, or close to a nine-year high, after European Union leaders on Tuesday sealed a 750-billion-euro recovery plan and the U.S. administration and opposition Democrats discussed a next round of relief that would include extended unemployment insurance.

"The specter of these stimulus packages has pushed investors back into non-yielding assets like gold," Reuters quoted ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes as saying.