The U.S. dollar strengthened against the Vietnamese dong and major peers on Wednesday morning.

An employee counts U.S. banknotes at a bank in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Tung

The dollar is sold by Vietcombank at VND24,820, a 0.2% increase from Tuesday.

It has risen against the dong by 1.64% since the beginning of the year.

The State Bank of Vietnam raised its reference rate by 0.05% to VND24,094.

At unofficial exchange points, the greenback fell 0.4% to VND25,100.

Globally, the dollar held its sharpest gain in a week on Wednesday after an Iranian missile attack on Israel drove buying of safe assets as investors fretted about the widening of conflict in the Middle East, Reuters reported.

Early Asia moves were slight, leaving the euro below $1.10 following its largest drop in nearly four months overnight.

The bid for safety kept the yen broadly steady at 143.45 per dollar and the Swiss franc at 0.8463 per dollar.

The U.S. dollar index, a gauge of its value against six major peers, rose about 0.5% overnight to 101.2, its largest rise since Sept. 25, which was also helped by a stronger-than-expected reading on U.S. job openings.

Minh Hieu (Source: e.vnexpress.net)