MOSCOW: The Russian rouble hit its lowest level since early 2016 on Monday, under pressure from the slide of fellow emerging market currency the Turkish lira, and investors' concerns about new US sanctions against Russia.
In early Monday trading the rouble briefly hit the 68.66 mark versus the dollar, a level not seen since April 2016. It later pared those losses somewhat. At 0747 GMT, the rouble was 0.71 percent weaker against the dollar at 68.13.
The rouble also lost 0.31 percent versus the euro to trade at 77.52 after earlier briefly going through the 78.15 mark for the first time since April this year.
The Russian central bank data disclosed it had not purchased foreign currency, on behalf of the finance ministry, for state reserves on Aug. 9 for the first time since April 16.
The central bank says it does not intervene in the currency, but foreign exchange purchases for the reserves are viewed by the market as having an influence on the rouble. A halt to purchases would have the effect of supporting the rouble.
The Russian currency began its fall last week when the United States announced new measures targeting Russia. The rouble dropped 6.92 percent, its steepest weekly fall since December 2014.
The rouble also felt pressure from a stronger dollar, which is near multi-month highs. The crisis in Turkey and the fall of the lira hurt investor confidence in emerging market assets more broadly, including in Russia, analysts at BCS Brokerage said in a note.
The South African rand and Mexican peso were also down against the US dollar on Monday.
The rouble also felt pressure from lower oil prices.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was down 0.38 percent at $72.53 a barrel.
Russian stock indexes were down.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.58 percent to 1,050.85 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.04 percent lower at 2,275.11 points.
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