Hanoi (VNA) - Gold products were sold out at anumber of stores amid a sharp increase in customers compared to previous daysduring the God of Wealth Day on February 25.

Legend has it that the God of Wealth returns to heaven on the10th day of the Lunar New Year, and so Vietnamese have a tradition of buyinggold on that day to hope for good luck and prosperity throughout the year.

In addition to traditional products such as figurinesrepresenting the God of Wealth and those inscribed with the words Phuc(Happiness), Loc (Prosperity), Tai (Wealth) and Tho (Longevity), gold companieshave also launched a variety of other items featuring images of the dog to markthe Year of the Dog.

On Tran Nhan Tong in Hanoi,also known as Gold Street,the number of customers lining up in front of shops has kept increasing andproducts are in shot supply.

According to Le Thi Hien, deputy general director of DojiJewellery JSC, the company had prepared a sufficient amount of gold productssince the end of last year’s third quarter for the God of Wealth Day,especially those with symbols of dogs – the spiritual animal of the lunar newyear – and others that represent happiness, prosperity, wealth and longevityfor customers.

Golden dogs and other spiritual animal products provedpopular and had sold out, especially those weighing one ortwo chi (3.75g each), she said.

“We have prepared around 250,000 products to serve customersduring the God of Wealth Day, an increase of 30 percent compared to the sameday last year,” Hien said.

By noon on February 25, Doji had sold two-thirds of the totalproducts and some shops have run out of supply, she said, adding that thecompany may have to produce more and ship gold products from other localitiesto Hanoi tomeet rising customers’ demand.

She said that the number of customers rose sharply as the Godof Wealth Day took place during the three-day weekend this year, starting onFebruary 23, and most customers were office employees, who would hope for amore prosperous and wealthier year.

Head of the business department at Bao Tin Minh Chau Gold andJewellery JSC, Nguyen Thi Yen, said that the number of customers had rose 15-20percent year on year by noon on February 25 and by six to seven times comparedto normal trading days.

Vice chairman of Phu Quy Group, Pham Hai Au, said that thecompany had increased its supply for the day by 70 percent to meet the marketdemand and offered online and phone sales so that customers can easily purchasethe company’s products.

High demand for gold products on the God of Wealth Day alsopushed selling prices for gold upwards.

At Bao Tin Minh Chau Gold and Jewellery JSC, the sellingprice of SJC gold peaked at 37.7 million VND (1,675 USD) per tael (each tael isequal to 10 chi) early in the day, an increase of 40,000 VND compared toFebruary 24, and concluded at 37.4 million VND per tael at the end of the day.

At SJC Jewellery Company, the selling price of SJC gold wasset at 37.05 million VND per tael early on February 25 morning. At Doji, SJCgold was initially sold at 37.36 million VND per tael and increased to 37.6million VND per tael later.-VNA