Dollar hits 18-week high against dong

Vietcombank sold the dollar at VND23,930, up 0.04% from Wednesday.

Eximbank maintained it at VND23,670, and Techcombank kept it unchanged at VND23,935.

The State Bank of Vietnam’s reference rate was stable at VND23,828.

The dollar was sold at VND23,800 on the black market, up 0.42%.

It has gained over the dong by 0.84% since the beginning of the year.

Globally the dollar was broadly higher on Thursday, after the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting cemented market expectations for a rate hike this month, Reuters reported.

In Asia, the yen hovered near the key 145 per dollar level that spurred intervention by Japanese authorities last September, while a faltering economic recovery in China continued to put downward pressure on the yuan.

Minutes of the Fed’s June meeting released on Wednesday showed that the vast majority of policymakers expect further tightening in U.S. monetary policy, even as they agreed to hold interest rates steady last month.

That sent the dollar slightly higher alongside Treasury yields, as bets firmed that the Fed will resume its rate-hike campaign this month and that rates would stay higher for longer in order to tame inflation.

Against the dollar, the euro touched a near one-week low of $1.0843 in early Asia trade, while sterling dipped 0.08% to $1.26925.

The dollar index rose 0.04% to 103.38.