An employee counts U.S. banknotes at a bank in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy
The U.S. dollar strengthened against the Vietnamese dong Monday morning while inching up against major peers.
Vietcombank sold the dollar at VND25,560, a 0.35% jump from the weekend. The greenback rose 0.12% to VND25,710 on the black market.
The State Bank of Vietnam’s reference rate increased by 0.1% to VND24,487.
Globally, the dollar edged higher on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump warned more tariffs were imminent including on steel and aluminium, an inflationary move that could limit the scope for rate cuts, Reuters reported.
Investors reacted by pushing the dollar higher, with its index firm at 108.38. The euro dipped 0.2% to $1.0305. Sterling was little changed at $1.23915.
The dollar bounced 0.4% on the yen to 152.02, regaining some of the ground recently lost to speculation the Bank of Japan will raise rates in the next few months.
Analysts assume currencies from those countries targeted by Trump will tend to fall against the dollar to help compensate in part for the taxes, keeping their exports competitive.
Tariffs could also put upward pressure on U.S. inflation and further limit room for the Federal Reserve to ease policy.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is due to appear before the House of Representatives on Tuesday and Wednesday and the impact of tariffs on policy is sure to be a hot-button issue.
