Dollar treads lightly against dong

Vietcombank sold the dollar at VND23,640 Wednesday, up 0.02% from Tuesday.

Techcombank lowered the greenback by 0.04% to VND23,631.

VIB kept the rate unchanged at VND23,650.

The State Bank of Vietnam set its reference rate at VND23,602, same as Tuesday.

The dollar remained stable on the black market at VND23,480.

It has fallen against the dong by 0.38% since the beginning of the year.

Globally the U.S. dollar was stuck near two-month lows on Wednesday as weak economic data bolstered views that the Federal Reserve is near the end of its tightening cycle, while the New Zealand dollar jumped after a larger-than expected interest rate hike, Reuters reported.

Christopher Wong, a currency strategist at OCBC, said the central bank’s stance was that near term inflationary pressures have increased and inflation is still too high and persistent, adding the hike brings the tightening cycle closer to an end.

Elsewhere, data overnight showed U.S. job openings dropped to their lowest level in nearly two years in February, suggesting that labour market conditions were finally easing.