Dollar strengthens over dong

Vietcombank sold the dollar at VND24,870, up 0.20% from Wednesday.

The State Bank of Vietnam’s reference rate was stable at VND23,967.

The dollar fell 0.43% to VND25,440 on the black market.

It has increased against the dong by 1.84% since the beginning of the year.

Globally the currency market was sedate on Thursday, with the U.S. dollar consolidating against major peers as market players awaited more data out of the world's largest economy for clues on the direction of Federal Reserve policy, Reuters reported.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was mostly flat at 102.77.

Against the yen, the dollar held at 147.69 yen , as an exit from negative rates at the Bank of Japan's monetary policy meeting on March 18-19 continues to be a close call.

The euro was holding steady against the dollar at $1.0949, ahead of remarks by several European Central Bank officials on Thursday.