Dollar inches down on black market

The greenback is sold at VND25,580 on the black market, down 0.08%.

Vietcombank sold the dollar at VND24,950, unchanged from Tuesday.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) reduced its reference rate by 0.07% to VND23,998.

The dollar has increased against the dong by 2.17% since the beginning of the year.

Globally, the dollar rose on Wednesday as more strong U.S. economic data cast doubt over the likelihood of interest rate cuts, sending the yen to a three-decade low and into the zone that drew Japan to intervene in the foreign exchange market in 2022, Reuters reported.

The dollar, meanwhile, is on course for quarterly gains as what had been expectations for steep interest rate cuts this year have been pared in the face of strong economic data and reticence to cut from central bankers.

The yen briefly traded at 151.97 per dollar in the Asia session, down about 0.2% and its weakest since mid-1990.

The euro, at $1.0829, is more or less in the middle of a range it has kept for a year and is down 1.9% for the quarter.

The U.S. dollar index is up 3% for the quarter to 104.4.