An employee counts U.S. banknotes at a bank in Hanoi. Photo by Read/Giang Huy
The U.S. dollar edged lower against the Vietnamese dong Monday morning while easing against major currencies.
Vietcombank sold the greenback at VND26,250, down 0.02% over the weekend. The currency traded at around VND25,810 on the black market.
The State Bank of Vietnam reduced its reference rate by 0.04% to VND25,605.
Globally the dollar was on shaky ground on Monday, despite a ramp-up in U.S. rate hike bets as Middle East tensions raised the prospect of broader inflationary pressures that could force global central banks to tighten policy in tandem, Reuters reported.
Against a basket of currencies, the dollar fell 0.07% to 99.09, not far from its recent low of 98.558. The yen rose more than 0.2% to 155.88 per dollar on Monday. The euro was up marginally at $1.1618, while sterling was little changed at $1.3519.
The dollar struggled to sustain a brief lift it received from last Friday’s blowout U.S. jobs report. Traders are now looking to inflation data due later this week.
“A hot CPI print would all but seal a September hike and underpin a firmer U.S. dollar. A cooler reading would strengthen the case for a hold and leave the U.S. dollar vulnerable to a dovish Fed repricing,” said Elias Haddad, global head of markets strategy at BBH.
“Even if a September Fed hike becomes a done deal, we doubt the U.S. dollar will make new cyclical highs. Tightening by other major central banks limits policy divergence.”