MOSCOW: The Russian rouble weakened against the dollar on Monday, pressured by the global advance of the US currency and political concerns despite a recent increase in oil prices.
The rouble shed 0.4 percent to 62.48 as of 0800 GMT and was 0.1 percent stronger versus the euro at 73.22 .
The rouble is struggling to take advantage of higher oil prices that last week reached their highest since 2014 on concerns over Russia's relations with the West.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 0.7 percent at $78.94 a barrel after topping the $80 mark last week.
The exact steps Moscow is taking in retaliation against the latest US sanctions imposed in April remain unclear, weighing on risk appetite and the rouble.
In the future, if geopolitical tensions do not increase, the rouble "is likely to be in the stronger camp within the EM complex," VTB Capital said, referring to the rouble's likely performance compared to other emerging market currencies.
On the data side, Russia's industrial output rose 1.3 percent year-on-year in April after expanding by 1.0 percent in March, data showed late last week.
The increase suggested that financial market turbulence, sparked by the latest US sanctions against Moscow in early April, had no immediate impact on the industrial output, Uralsib Capital said in a note.
"Nevertheless, in the mid-term a stronger pressure of sanctions may worsen the state of particular major companies, which will negatively impact the industrial output," Uralsib Capital said.
Russian stock indexes inched higher. The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 0.6 percent at 1,180.7 points, while the rouble-based MOEX was 0.6 percent higher at 2,341.7 points.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.