MOSCOW: The Russian rouble was flat early on Thursday as higher oil prices eased concerns over central bank foreign-currency purchases starting from February.
At 0713 GMT, the rouble traded up 0.03 percent at 59.50 against the dollar and had gained 0.11 percent to trade at 63.93 versus the euro.
Traders were closely watching Russia's monetary and fiscal authorities after they said they would start buying dollars for the country's depleted reserves.
The central bank will buy foreign currency on behalf of the finance ministry from next month in an amount that the finance ministry will disclose at the beginning of every month.
Though the central bank pledges it will not scrap a free-floating exchange rate, there are fears the bank's interventions will change the balance of power on the market.
"The psychological effect of the CBR's presence will undoubtedly put pressure on the rouble in the medium term," Aton brokerage said in a research note.
Oil prices helped Russian assets on Thursday, as Brent crude futures were up 0.78 percent at $55.51 a barrel.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.4 percent at 1155.16 points, while the rouble-based MICEX was 0.4 percent higher at 2184.6, supported by expectations of some rouble weakening.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.