Rouble plunges past 69 vs dollar on weakening oil and risk appetite

MOSCOW: The Russian rouble dropped on Thursday to one-week lows against the dollar, hurt by falling oil prices and grim economic forecasts from the United States, which lessened global demand for risk.

At 0743 GMT, the rouble had fallen by 0.8pc against the dollar at 69.05, after losing more than 1pc. It crossed 69 per dollar for the first time since June 4.

Versus the euro, the rouble had lost 0.7pc to trade at 78.50, also a one-week low.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was down 3.3pc at $40.35 a barrel.

The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday warned of a long road to economic recovery, with dire GDP and unemployment forecasts.

That dashed hopes for a rapid revival from the coronavirus pandemic as countries gradually ease restrictive measures and businesses resume operations.

The rouble, buoyed in recent weeks by climbing oil prices, on Thursday faced the opposite problem.

"This morning, markets are in risk-off mode, with oil and US futures sharply down," said Aton Research analysts said in a note.

For Russia's commodity-driven economy, the decline of oil and industrial metals prices means the rouble risks weakening to as far as 69.5 to the dollar, said Andrei Kochetkov, leading analyst at Otkritie Brokerage.

Foreign currency sales at the equivalent of around 10.2 billion roubles ($147.7 million) a day by the central bank continued to support the rouble, before a long weekend for Russian markets, with Friday a public holiday.

Russian stock indexes were also falling.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 1.8pc to 1,253.9 points.

The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 1.2pc lower at 2,752.8 points.