U.S. Dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken July 17, 2022. Photo by Reuters
The U.S. dollar strengthened against the Vietnamese dong and major peers on Friday morning.
Vietcombank sold the greenback at VND26,223, a 0.05% increase from Thursday.
The currency was 0.06% lower at around VND26,355 on the black market.
The State Bank of Vietnam lowered its reference rate by 0.06% to VND24,975.
Globally, the U.S. dollar advanced on Friday after Israel said it had launched strikes on Iran, sparking a rush back into the currency and a rally in other safe-haven assets including the Japanese yen, the Swiss franc and gold, Reuters reported.
“The geopolitical escalation adds another layer of uncertainty to already fragile sentiment,” said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo.
“If tensions rise, particularly with any threat to oil supply routes, the risk-off mood could persist, keeping upward pressure on crude and haven assets.”
An index that measures the dollar against six other currencies rose 0.4% and was last at 98.07.
The Japanese yen and the Swiss franc, both also traditional safe-haven currencies, rallied 0.3% and 0.4% respectively against the dollar.
The dollar’s biggest gains were against currencies positively correlated to risk sentiment, the Aussie dollar and the New Zealand dollar, which both weakened 0.9%. The euro reversed a four-day rally to trade down 0.3% at $1.155.
The dollar index is on track for a weekly decline of over 1%, its biggest drop in nearly a month, and is set to mark losses against the yen, the Swiss franc and the euro.
