Vietnam Frees Its Gold Market But Shoppers Pause as Prices Dip

Along Hanoi’s busiest gold trading street, dozens of storefronts gleam with bullion bars and jewelry. On Friday, however, shopkeepers sat idly behind glass counters, waiting for customers as Vietnam ended its decades-long monopoly on bullion trade and production, the first major liberalization of the market in more than a decade.

The shoppers may be slow to come but early signs of the monopoly’s end were evident.