An employee counts U.S. banknotes at a bank in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Tung
The U.S. dollar weakened against the Vietnamese dong Friday morning as it headed for a weekly loss against several major peers.
Vietcombank sold the greenback at VND26,310, a 0.04% drop from Thursday. The currency rose 0.06% to around VND26,465 at unofficial exchange points.
The State Bank of Vietnam lowered its reference rate by 0.008% to VND25,164.
Globally, the dollar inched off two-week lows on Friday, but kept on track for its biggest weekly drop in a month, as investors contended with U.S. tariff negotiations before an August 1 deadline, while looking ahead to central bank meetings next week, Reuters reported.
The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against six other units, was at 97.448, set for a drop of 1% this week, its weakest performance in a month. The yen stood at 147.20 to the dollar, on course for a weekly gain of nearly 1%.
The euro was little changed at $1.174, but not far from $1.183, the near four-year high it touched at the start of the month. The euro is up 13.5% this year as tariff policies take the shine off the dollar.
“The market’s focus is firmly on next week’s Fed meeting. We expect (Fed Chair Jerome) Powell to repeat a patient, data-dependent policy outlook with flexibility but (he) is unlikely to commit to cuts,” said Prashant Newnaha, senior Asia-Pacific rates strategist at TD Securities.