Hanoi, May 11 (IANS): Jewelry stores in Vietnam have been crowded with customers looking to buy gold as prices kept soaring to an all-time high of over 90 million Vietnamese dong (3,536 U.S. dollars) in recent days, Xinhua news agency, quoting VnExpress, reported.

A store on Cau Giay street in capital Hanoi even had to stop accepting walk-in customers, only serving those who had already fixed an appointment, the newspaper reported Saturday.

Saigon Jewelry Company gold bullion price shot up 2.6 percent to 91.8 million dong (3,607 dollars) per tael on Friday morning after reaching a record 89.5 million dong (3,517 dollars) on Thursday afternoon.

Gold ring prices slightly increased by 1 percent to 76 million dong (2,987 dollars) per tael on Friday.

Since the central bank began auctioning gold bars in late April, the precious metal has seen its price skyrocket.

A total of 6,800 taels of gold bars have been successfully auctioned during two recent sessions in Vietnam.

A tael equals 37.5 grams or 1.2 ounces.