Dollar reaches two-month high against dong

By Dat Nguyen January 10, 2024 | 08:43 pm PT

An employee of a bank counts U.S. dollar notes at a branch in Hanoi. Photo by Reuters/Kham

The U.S. dollar rose against the Vietnamese dong Thursday morning to the highest since Nov. 5.

Vietcombank sold the dollar at VND24,640, up 0.35% from Wednesday.

The State Bank of Vietnam raised its reference rate by 0.08% to VND23,948.

The greenback was stable at VND24,850 on the black market.

It has increased against the dong by 0.90% since the beginning of the year.

Globally the dollar has steadied in early 2024 after sliding through the latter months of 2023 as the Federal Reserve indicated it was finished with rate hikes and traders priced in steep cuts, Reuters reported.

The dollar index hovered at 102.3 on Thursday. Sterling bought $1.2750 and the Australian and New Zealand dollars were contained in recent ranges. The Aussie traded at $0.6707 and the kiwi at $0.6232.

The yen was squeezed on Thursday, weighed by sluggish Japanese wages, while the dollar was becalmed as traders waited on U.S. inflation data to see whether bets on rate cuts were justified.

The yen fell 0.9% on the dollar overnight and 1.2% on the euro after data showed workers' real wages shrank for a 20th straight month in November - confounding officials wishes to see wage gains before tightening policy.