Dollar ups on black market

Unofficial exchange points sold the greenback at VND23,860, up 0.13% from Friday.

Vietcombank kept the rate unchanged at VND23,970.

The dollar steadied at Eximbank (VND23,940) and Techcombank (VND23,955).

The State Bank of Vietnam maintained its reference rate at VND23,642.

The dollar has appreciated against the dong by 1.01% since the beginning of the year.

Globally the dollar held a seven-week peak on Friday, as another round of data showing still-high inflation reinforced expectations that interest rates could stay higher for longer, Reuters reported.

Hotter-than-expected data has helped the greenback to strengthen against many of its major peers this week, sending the dollar index up 0.6% at 105.20 to a seven-week high and putting it on track to post its largest weekly gain since late September.

The euro was last down 0.39% against the greenback at $1.0549, after falling to a seven-week low of $1.0536 earlier in the session. Sterling softened 0.60% against the dollar at $1.1951.

"Strong U.S. data have completely turned the market in February. Good news has been bad news, with rates and equities selling off and the U.S. dollar up," said Athanasios Vamvakidis, global head G10 FX strategy at Bank of America in London.