Dollar goes sideways against dong

Eximbank sold the greenback at VND23,870, unchanged from Sunday. Techcombank maintained its rate at VND23,905.

Vietcombank increased the dollar by 0.04% to VND23,900.

The State Bank of Vietnam kept its reference rate stable at VND23,636.

Unofficial exchange points sold the dollar 0.06% higher at VND23,780.

The dollar has gained over the dong by 0.72% since the beginning of the year.

Globally the U.S. dollar made a tentative start to the week on Monday as investors awaited testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and looked towards for a February jobs report that will likely influence how hawkish the U.S. central bank will be, Reuters reported.

The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against six major peers, was down 0.057% at 104.560, but not far off a seven-week high of 105.36 it touched last week. The index last week clocked a weekly loss for the first time since January.

After delivering jumbo hikes last year, the Fed has raised interest rates by 25 basis points in its latest two meetings, but a slew of resilient economic data has stoked market fears that the central bank might return to its aggressive path.

Futures imply a 72% chance the Fed will raise interest rates by 25 basis points at its meeting on March 22.

“U.S. underlying inflation remains stubbornly high well above the Fed’s inflation target of 2%,” said Joseph Capurso, head of international and sustainable economics at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.