Dollar decreases slightly against dong

Vietcombank sold the dollar at VND25,450, down 0.01% from Thursday.

The greenback was stable at VND25,820 on the black market.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s reference rate was unchanged at VND24,245.

The dollar has increased against the dong by 4.22% since the beginning of the year.

Globally, the dollar headed for its largest weekly fall versus the euro in two-and-a-half months on Friday as signs of cooling inflation and a softening U.S. economy raised the prospect of rate cuts, Reuters reported.

The euro is up 0.9% on the dollar this week, has broken above resistance around $1.0855 and traded as high as $1.0895 in the wake of U.S. inflation posting a slowdown.

It was last at $1.0861.

The Japanese yen has been broadly steady at 155.48.

The dollar index was down 0.6% for the week so far, against its rivals.

April's annual U.S. inflation numbers met expectations but, since they were lower than the month before, they encouraged confidence that the Federal Reserve can cut interest rates in September and December - driving rallies in stocks and bonds and pressure on the dollar.

"(Besides inflation) a lot of activity data has been cooling off," said Westpac strategist Imre Speizer, contributing to selling of the dollar.