Dollar gains over dong

Vietcombank sold the greenback at VND25,477, up 0.02% from Thursday. At unofficial exchange points, the dollar was steady at VND25,650.

The State Bank of Vietnam lowered its reference rate by 0.02% to VND24,264. The dollar has risen against the dong by 4.33% since the beginning of the year.

Globally, the dollar rose to a 2 1/2-week high against major peers on Friday, on track for its best week in a month, amid bets that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates next week but then take a patient approach to further reductions, Reuters reported.

The dollar index, which measures the currency against the euro, yen and three other rivals, ticked up to 107.05 for the first time since Nov. 26. For the week, the index is up more than 1%.

The dollar rose 0.19% to 152.935 yen and touched the highest since Nov. 27 at 152.965. It has gained about 1.9% on the yen this week, which would make it the best weekly performance since the end of September.

The euro was little changed at $1.0464 after sagging 0.27% overnight, extending a losing streak to five days. It's down close to 1% this week. Sterling slipped slightly to $1.2665.

The European Central Bank on Thursday cut rates by 25 basis points and kept the door open to further easing ahead as inflation closes in on its goal and the economy remains weak.