MOSCOW: The rouble edged back towards a two-week low past 92 to the dollar on Friday, after a sharp slide in the previous session attributed to low year-end liquidity as the Russian currency waits for support from month-end corporate taxes.
At 0728 GMT, the rouble was 0.3% weaker against the dollar at 92.44, having slid to a two-week low of 92.8025 in the previous session.
It had lost 0.2% to trade at 101.79 versus the euro and shed 0.5% against the yuan to 12.91.
The rouble typically struggles in December as citizens tend to buy foreign currency ahead of Russia’s long New Year holidays in January.
The rouble has not yet managed to take advantage of higher oil prices or next week’s tax period that usually sees exporters convert foreign currency revenues to pay local liabilities, said Banki.ru Chief Analyst Bogdan Zvarich.
“In today’s session, we expect attempts by the rouble to move to strengthening,” Zvarich said in a note.
Since October and the rouble’s most recent slide to 100 against the dollar, a presidential decree forcing exporters to convert some foreign currency revenue has provided support, as have elevated interest rates.
The Bank of Russia said its rate-hiking cycle may be near completion as it raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 16% last week, increasing borrowing costs for the fifth consecutive meeting in response to stubborn inflation.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia’s main export, was up 0.8% at $80.00 a barrel.
Russian stock indexes were mixed.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.3% to 1,048.9 points.
The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.1% higher at 3,077.6 points.
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