Dollar inches up against dong

Unofficial exchange points sold the dollar at VND23,490, up 0.09% from Wednesday.

Vietcombank sold the dollar at VND23,620, up 0.08%.

Eximbank maintained the rate at VND23,570.

Techcombank also kept it unchanged at VND23,602.

The State Bank of Vietnam’s reference rate remained the same at VND23,605.

Globally, the dollar rose broadly on Thursday as growth concerns about the U.S. economy drove demand for the safe-haven greenback, while the yen renewed its ascent as investors doubled down on bets that the Bank of Japan would shift away from its yield curve control policy, Reuters reported.

The euro shed 0.02% to stand at $1.0792, while sterling fell 0.17% to $1.2327.

Weak U.S. data released on Wednesday showed that U.S. retail sales fell by the most in a year in December and manufacturing output recorded its biggest drop in nearly two years, stoking fears that the world's largest economy is headed for a recession.

"Those weak data really reinforced market concerns about an imminent U.S. recession ... (which) really supported the dollar, and I think that will become a growing narrative in the coming months," said Carol Kong, a currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.