The Russian rouble weakened in thin trade and shares fell on Monday, anticipating a decline in oil prices after weaker than expected economic data from the US and China, and shrugging off the central bank's decision to keep interest rates unchanged. Russia's central bank highlighted rising inflationary risks but signalled no early move in coming months. The market showed no reaction to the widely expected outcome.
The dollar-based RTS index declined 0.8 percent to 1,600.9 points while its rouble-traded peer MICEX was down 0.6 percent at 1,488.7 points by 1010 GMT. Shares in Russian coking coal miner Raspadskaya underperformed the market by losing 2.7 percent on the day, while shares in Rostelecom, state-controlled telecoms provider, were up 1.5 percent.
By 1010 GMT, the rouble eased 0.2 percent to 29.66 against the dollar and also gave up 0.2 percent to 38.48 against the euro. Versus the euro-dollar basket, the central bank's main gauge of the currency market, the rouble weakened 0.2 percent to 33.76. "Non-residents are on holiday today so it's hard to expect a rise in the trading activity," analysts at ING said in a note, referring to a long Easter weekend.
The rouble usually receives support from export-focused companies in the second half of every month as they step up conversion of foreign currencies to meet local tax liabilities. On Monday, local market players were waiting for more international reaction to poor US payroll data, which came out last Friday when many markets were closed. Higher than expected inflation in China added to downside pressure on Russian markets. Yields on the benchmark Russia-30 Eurobond rose to 4.16 percent from levels of around 4.07 percent seen last week, reflecting investors easing exposure to Russian assets.
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