Dollar weakens against dong

Vietcombank sold the greenback at VND26,389, down 0.03% from Tuesday and 0.22% so far this month. The currency rose 0.19% to VND26,820 on the black market.

The State Bank of Vietnam lowered its reference rate by 0.03% to VND25,133.

Globally, the U.S. dollar rose to its strongest in more than two months in early Asian trading on Wednesday as risks around the U.S. government shutdown intensified, sparking fresh investor worries and boosting demand for safe-haven assets, Reuters reported.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.3% to as much as 98.91, its highest since Aug. 5, as U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to carry out mass firings of federal workers during the standoff.

"With no resolution to the government shutdown in sight, sentiment in financial markets deteriorated," analysts from Westpac wrote in a research report.

The kiwi dollar tumbled as much as 1% to lows of $0.5739. The Australian dollar was last down 0.4% at $0.65595. The euro stood at $1.1618, down 0.3% so far in Asian hours, while sterling was at $1.3395, off 0.2%.

Against the yen, the dollar was trading at 152.535 yen, up 0.4% from late U.S. levels and hovering around the strongest level since February, as investors weigh up the impact of Sanae Takaichi's economic policy settings.