Dollar inches up against dong

Vietcombank sold the dollar at VND24,170, up 0.12% from Wednesday’s closing price.

The State Bank of Vietnam raised its reference rate by 0.23% to VND23,954.

The greenback fell 0.33% to VND24,060 on the black market.

It has increased over the dong by 1.85% since the beginning of the year.

Globally the dollar nursed a sharp pullback against Asian currencies on Thursday, after softer-than-expected global economic data muddied the interest rate outlook and pushed down U.S. yields ahead of the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole symposium, Reuters reported.

The Australian dollar, which has been taking a battering for a few months on signs of China’s slowdown and resilience in the U.S., jumped 0.9% overnight after U.S. manufacturing and services PMIs missed expectations.

"Weaker than expected ... data led markets to scale back their expectations for U.S. policy," said Commonwealth Bank of Australia currency strategist Carol Kong, with jobless claims the next focus ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Friday speech.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies remains higher for the month, but dipped about 0.2% overnight. PMI data was soft globally, which tempered gains for the euro and sent sterling on a wide-ranging round trip before it steadied around $1.2717.

The euro held at $1.0865 in early Asia trade.