MOSCOW: The Russian rouble was steady in light trade on Tuesday as investors refrained from taking new positions ahead of a speech by the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman due later this week.
At 0710 GMT, the rouble was down 0.1% against the dollar to 63.75 and had lost 0.15% to trade at 71.5 versus the euro.
"The range of 63-64 roubles per dollar looks reasonable in the short term," said Mikhail Poddubsky, an analyst at Promsvyazbank.
The majority of factors that had supported the rouble this year have run out of steam, and the rouble will now be driven by demand for emerging market currencies, Poddubsky said.
For now, such demand has not been evident as the emerging market currency index hovered in the middle of a 1,640-1,650 point range it has been in since late June.
U.S. Fed's Jerome Powell is expected to give a clue on the rate outlook.
"Equity investors continued discounting reduced expectations of front-loaded rate cuts from the U.S. Fed," VTB Capital analysts said.
Demand for emerging currencies, such as the rouble, could increase if the U.S. Fed confirms market expectations for a rate cut of 25 basis points later in July.
Russian stock indexes were mixed. The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.2% at 1,396 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.1% higher at 2,826 points.
Oil prices had a negative impact on Russian assets as they dipped on Tuesday on demand concerns following the latest signs the U.S.-China trade war is dragging on the global economy. Brent crude futures were 0.1% lower at $64.04 per barrel .
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