Dollar gains over dong on black market

By Minh Hieu March 11, 2025 | 08:29 pm PT

An employee counts U.S. banknotes at a bank in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Tung

The U.S. dollar rose against the Vietnamese dong on the black market Wednesday morning as it traded near a 5-month low against major currencies.

Unofficial exchange points sold the dollar at VND25,840, up 0.04% from Tuesday. Vietcombank kept the greenback steady at VND25,650.

The State Bank of Vietnam reduced its reference rate by 0.02% to VND24,758.

Globally, the dollar languished near a five-month low versus major peers on Wednesday, as worries about the U.S. economy continued to simmer under President Donald Trump's unpredictable trade policies, Reuters reported.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the currency against a basket of six major peers, was flat at 103.47 in early Asian trade, following a 0.46% slide on Tuesday that took it as low as 103.21 for the first time since Oct. 16.

The euro hovered close to a five-month peak on increased optimism for an end to the war in Ukraine. The euro eased 0.05% to $1.0913, but remained not far from the previous session's peak of $1.0947, the highest level since Oct. 11.

Sterling eased 0.11% to $1.2933, but that followed a 0.53% rally on Tuesday. The dollar gained 0.17% to 148.01 yen, after sinking to a five-month trough at 146.545 yen in the prior session.

The Canadian dollar endured a volatile session overnight after Trump pledged to double tariffs on steel and aluminium to 50%, only to reverse course just hours later.

The greenback was steady at C$1.44325, after swinging between gains of 0.5% and losses of 0.4% on Tuesday.