Dollar downtrend extends against dong

Vietcombank sold the dollar at VND23,650 Wednesday, down 0.42% from Tuesday. The greenback is now hovering around a three-month low at the state-owned lender.

Eximbank sold the greenback at VND23,620, down 0.63%.

The rate at Techcombank is VND23,650, down 0.55%, and at ACB is VND23,800, down 0.63%.

The State Bank of Vietnam maintained its reference rate at VND23,654, same as Tuesday.

The dollar is sold at VND24,150 on the black market, down 0.33%.

The greenback has gained over the dong by 3.18% since the beginning of the year.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback versus six major currencies, fell 0.067% to 104.00 Wednesday, having slid 0.9% overnight, after a sharp dive overnight on cooler-than-expected inflation data which fueled expectations that the Federal Reserve will chart a moderate rate hike path later in the day, Reuters reported.

The deceleration in Consumer Price Index inflation supports the case for the Federal Open Market Committee to taper the increase in the Funds rate to 50 basis points, said Carol Kong, a currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

“We expect FOMC chair Powell at his press conference to talk about the risks to economic growth as well as the need to bring inflation down to target,” Kong said, noting the focus on economic growth will likely be welcomed by risk assets and pull the dollar lower.