Dollar ups against dong

Vietcombank sold the dollar at VND23,830 Friday, up 0.08% from Thursday.

Techcombank hiked its rate by 0.05% to VND23,838.

The State Bank of Vietnam’s reference rate was stable at VND23,734.

The dollar was sold at VND23,660 on the black market, unchanged from Thursday.

The dollar has gained over the dong by 0.42% since the beginning of the year.

Globally the dollar was steady on Friday as data pointed to U.S. labour market resilience that could lead the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates higher for longer, while the yen strengthened after Japan’s core consumer inflation re-accelerated in June, Reuters reported.

The Japanese yen strengthened 0.08% to 139.97 per dollar after nationwide core consumer price index rose 3.3% in June from a year earlier, matching a median market forecast, but remained above the Bank of Japan’s 2% target.

The data bolsters the chances the BOJ will revise up this year’s inflation forecast in fresh projections due next week.

Carol Kong, a currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), said the market expectations for a BOJ policy tightening have ebbed and flowed over the past year.

"The window for the BOJ to tighten policy is narrowing," Kong said, adding that CBA’s base case is for the BOJ to keep monetary policy unchanged this year.