An employee counts U.S. banknotes at a bank in Hanoi. Photo by VnExpress/Giang Huy
The U.S. dollar edged up against the Vietnamese dong and major currencies Friday morning.
Vietcombank sold the greenback at VND26,160, up 0.04% from Thursday. The dollar slid 0.13% to VND26,475 on the black market.
The State Bank of Vietnam hiked its reference rate by 0.1% to VND24,951.
Globally, the dollar headed for a weekly gain on most major peers on Friday as a U.S.-UK trade deal raised hopes of progress in looming U.S.-China talks, while bets of imminent U.S. rate cuts receded after the Federal Reserve indicated it was in no hurry, while attention shifted to U.S.-China talks this weekend, Reuters reported.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the currency against six major peers, edged up 0.1% to reach a one-month peak at 100.77.
The yen ticked up slightly to 145.77 per dollar, but that was after a 1.5% tumble on Thursday, when it touched a one-month low of 146.175. The euro sagged to a one-month trough at $1.12105, and sterling slipped to a three-week low of $1.32205.
“The market reaction of buying USD may reflect greater optimism that such tariff deals are doable,” said Steve Englander, global head of G10 currency research at Standard Chartered, in a note to clients.
“Trump’s dangling of the prospect of a trade détente with China may be adding to optimism that the global disruption from trade wars may not be as severe as markets have feared,” he said.
