Rouble at weakest against dollar since early 2011

MOSCOW: The Russian rouble came under pressure from continuing sell-off on stock and commodity markets at opening on Monday, briefly sliding to its weakest level since the first trading day in 2011 at 30.31 versus the dollar.

By 0609 GMT, the rouble was down 1.1 percent at 30.28 versus the dollar on the MICEX exchange and was almost unchanged at 41.05 against the euro.

Versus the euro-dollar baskets, the rouble eased 0.55 percent to 35.13, closing in on the range of above 35.15 where the central bank is expected to start selling few hundred million dollars a day to limit downside pressure on the rouble.