MOSCOW: The rouble slipped in volatile trade early on Thursday, eating into gains made late in the previous session, as the market watched to see whether the central bank would be forced into more decisive action to defend the currency.
At 0752 GMT, the Russian currency was about 0.5 percent weaker against the dollar at 46.19 and lost 0.8 percent to trade at 57.50 versus the euro.
The Russian currency has swung wildly in recent days, buoyed at times by statements by President Vladimir Putin and other leaders that Russia would defend the rouble.
The central bank floated the rouble on Monday and has discontinued its regular forex market interventions as part of a long-term policy shift to target inflation instead of defending the currency.
The rouble is down some 30 percent versus the dollar this year, as Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis have made it harder for banks and companies to refinance debts and as tumbling oil prices have hurt government revenue. "Market participants are guessing about the central bank's next policy step after heavy verbal interventions recently and the limit imposed on FX swap operations," Maxim Korovin, a forex analyst at VTB Capital, said in a note. "In light of this, we think the rouble's relatively elevated volatility could persist in the near term."
Falling prices for benchmark Brent crude, which slipped below $80 a barrel on Thursday and were near their lowest since 2010, weighed on the rouble, as well as signs that a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine was all but dead.
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