MOSCOW: The Russian rouble hovered near its strongest point since late June on Wednesday, supported by foreign currency sales by exporters, high interest rates and a relative recovery in oil prices.
At 0712 GMT, the rouble was 0.1% weaker against the dollar at 87.99, not far from 87.6550, its strongest point since June 30, hit in the previous session.
It had gained 0.2% to trade at 95.97 versus the euro and was unchanged against the yuan at 12.29.
The rouble has recorded weekly growth for six weeks in a row against the dollar and has firmed from beyond 100 since a presidential decree requiring some exporters to convert a significant portion of foreign exchange revenue was announced last month.
Month-end tax payments, which usually see exporters convert foreign currency revenues into roubles to meet domestic liabilities, are likely to support the rouble this week.
The Bank of Russia’s interest rate hike to 15% in late October has also buttressed the currency.
Russian rouble soars to within reach of 5-month high vs dollar
The bank has signalled that another increase may be needed before it can start lowering the cost of borrowing, but analysts broadly agree that the cycle of rate hikes is close to completion.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia’s main export, was down 0.2% at $82.28 a barrel.
Brent prices have dropped around 15% since peaking in September, but have climbed off more than four-month lows reached last week.
Russian stock indexes were higher.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 0.1% to 1,155.6 points.
The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.3% higher at 3,227.6 points.
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