Dollar steady at 15-week high

Vietcombank sold the dollar at VND23,760, up 0.04% from Sunday.

Other banks kept the rates stable.

Eximbank sold the greenback at VND23,670, and Techcombank VND23,765.

The State Bank of Vietnam’s reference rate remained unchanged at VND23,805.

The greenback was sold at VND23,720 on the black market, up 0.11%.

The dollar has gained over the dong by 0.13% since the beginning of the year.

Globally the yen remained hunkered just below the psychologically important barrier of 145 per U.S. dollar on Monday, while the dollar was on the back foot after U.S. economic data last week showed slightly easing inflation and consumer spending, Reuters reported.

The yen weakened 0.03% to 144.38 per dollar in early Asian hours to kick start the second half of the year having dropped 9% against the dollar in the first six months of the year.

Against the euro, the yen was hovering at 157.495, below the 15-year low of 158 it touched last week. It was at 183.47 per sterling, just below the seven-and-a-half-year low of 183.86 it hit on Friday.

The Asian currency briefly passed 145 per dollar on Friday, hitting a near eight-month low of 145.07 as investors keep an eye on whether Japanese authorities will intervene in the currency market.

Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was at 102.94, having dropped 0.4% on Friday. The euro eased 0.04% to $1.0906. Sterling last fetched $1.2694, down 0.08% on the day.