USD exchange rate today (May 1): USD increases after GDP declines

Meanwhile, in the US market, the US Dollar Index (DXY) measuring the greenback's fluctuations against six major currencies (EUR, JPY, GBP, CAD, SEK, CHF) increased by 0.40% to 99.64.

USD exchange rate today in the world

The US dollar rose against major currencies on Tuesday after new data showed the world's largest economy contracted in the first quarter, worse than market expectations but better than some of the biggest US banks had predicted.

Gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.3% in the first quarter, hurt by a surge in imports to buy goods before the Trump administration imposed tariffs on most goods, a Commerce Department report showed. Pre-tariff imports also rose 41.3% in the first three months of the year.

DXY Index volatility chart over the past 24 hours. Photo: Marketwatch

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.3% gain. However, Goldman Sachs forecast a 0.8% decline, while JP Morgan predicted a 1.75% decline. That would mean first-quarter GDP fell after a 2.4% gain in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Consumer spending, however, continued to grow, albeit at a moderate pace. Consumer spending on services, especially health care, rose 2.4% in the first quarter.

“It’s important to realize that a large part of the decline in GDP was due to a sharp increase in imports, which reduced GDP growth. And that was probably due to the expectation of tariffs,” said Oliver Pursche, senior vice president, advisor at Wealthspire Advisors in Westport, Connecticut.

Following the data, the US dollar rose 0.3% against the Japanese yen to 142.77 yen, while the euro fell 0.4% to $1.1343.

The greenback is on track for its biggest monthly decline against the yen since July 2024. The European common currency, on the other hand, is on track for its biggest monthly gain since November 2022.

The pound fell 0.5% to $1.3340. In April, the pound rose 3.3%, the strongest increase against the dollar since November 2023.

A separate report showing a rise in U.S. consumer spending and income as well as a slowdown in annual inflation also boosted the greenback. Data showed U.S. personal income rose 0.5 percent in March and spending rose 0.7 percent, both above economists’ forecasts in a Reuters poll.

In the 12 months through March, the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, rose 2.3%, down from a 2.7% gain in February. Annual core inflation also eased from the previous month, rising 2.6%, after rising 3.0% in February.

At the monthly level, both the headline PCE and core PCE figures were unchanged from the previous month.

Following the PCE data, US interest rate futures continued to point to the possibility of another Fed rate cut in June, with a total cut of around 100 basis points, or possibly four 25 basis point cuts by 2025. That would bring the US central bank's policy rate to 3.25%-3.50% by the end of this year.

Earlier in the session, the ADP National Employment Report showed that U.S. private payrolls grew more slowly than expected in April. Private payrolls increased by just 62,000 jobs this month, following a gain of 147,000 jobs in March. Economists had forecast private payrolls rising by 115,000.

USD exchange rate today, May 1: USD increases after GDP declines. Photo: Reuters

USD exchange rate today in the country

In the domestic market, at the beginning of the trading session on May 1, the State Bank announced that the central exchange rate of the Vietnamese Dong against the USD remained unchanged, currently at 23,956 VND.

* The reference exchange rate at the State Bank's transaction office for buying and selling remains unchanged, currently at: 23,759 VND - 26,153 VND.

USD exchange rates at commercial banks are as follows: