The central bank's daily reference exchange rate on Thursday is listed at VND23,056 per dollar, down VND8 against the previous day. — VNA/VNS Photo

After appreciating the US dollar against the Vietnamese dong on the first days of this week, the State Bank of Viet Nam on Thursday unexpectedly adjusted the greenback down.

The SBV on Thursday announced a daily reference exchange rate of VND23,056 per dollar, down VND8 against the previous day.

With the current trading band of +/- 3 per cent, commercial banks can list their ceiling rate at VND23,747 per dollar and the floor rate at VND22,365 per dollar.

The opening hour rates at commercial banks stayed stable. Both Vietcombank and BIDV listed the buying rate at VND23,250 per dollar and the selling rate at VND23,370, unchanged from Wednesday.

Techcombank also kept rates unchanged at VND23,230 for buying and VND23,370 for selling.

The daily reference exchange rate topped VND23,000 per dollar on April 23 and has continued to set new highs since then. Analysts at the Bao Viet Securities Company (BVSC) attributed the strong rise in the reference exchange rate to escalating trade tension between the US and China.

According to the analysts, the trade tension has impacted the exchange rates of many currencies, including the dong. They said the SBV has the option of selling US dollars to keep the exchange rate stable. — VNS