Rouble up after OPEC+ deal to cut output, cenbank governor in focus

• The rouble was 0.5pc stronger against the dollar at 73.96, moving away from its weakest level since early 2016 of 81.97 in hit in mid-March.
• The rouble is still far from levels of around 64 seen before the global sell-off triggered by the accelerating coronavirus pandemic began in February.

MOSCOW: The Russian rouble firmed in light trade on Friday, supported by a global decision to cut oil production after recently hitting four-year lows.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, agreed on Thursday to cut output by 10 million barrels per day from May, roughly 10pc of the world's supply before the coronavirus outbreak hit the global economy.

Oil prices, however, ended Thursday's trade lower before the market holiday on Good Friday, with Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, shedding 2.47pc to $32.03 a barrel.

But expectations that the deal will be reached have already lifted oil prices from multi-year lows seen last month, offering some ground to Russia's oil-dependent economy and its rouble.

At 0717 GMT, the rouble was 0.5pc stronger against the dollar at 73.96, moving away from its weakest level since early 2016 of 81.97 in hit in mid-March.

The rouble is still far from levels of around 64 seen before the global sell-off triggered by the accelerating coronavirus pandemic began in February.

Versus the euro, the rouble was 0.3pc firmed at 80.94 .

Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina was due to hold a weekly briefing at 1300 GMT on measures that Russia is taking to withstand financial shocks caused by the coronavirus outbreak, which has pushed the economy to the brink of recession.

Russian stock indexes nodded lower after rising the day before.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 1.5pc to 1,138.9 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 1.1pc lower at 2,671.9 points.