MOSCOW: The Russian rouble eased on Wednesday, reflecting uncertainties about how the outcome of talks over Iran's nuclear programme may impact the oil price.
At 0850 GMT, the rouble was 0.4 percent weaker against the dollar at 58.45 and down a similar amount at 62.67 versus the euro.
The rouble has rallied in recent weeks, hitting a 2015 high of 56.04 against the dollar on March 26, helped by end-of-month taxes which require exporters to convert foreign currency earnings into roubles.
However the rouble retreated on Tuesday and Wednesday, following the end of the tax period and with investors now focused on the outcome of six-power nuclear talks with Iran.
International oil benchmark Brent was slightly weaker around $55 per barrel on Wednesday and the price is expected to fall further if sanctions against Iran are eased.
"In case sanctions are lifted from Iran an additional volume of oil could hit the market, which in turn could lead to the next fall in the price of black gold," Veles Capital analyst Alexander Kostyukov said in a note.
ING economist Dmitry Polevoy expected the rouble to weaken on Wednesday and fall to a level of 59-60 against the dollar in the short term.
The weaker rouble meant that Russian shares were slightly stronger in rouble terms although they were flat in dollar terms. The rouble-based MICEX was up 0.5 percent to 1,634 points while the dollar-based RTS index was unchanged at 880 points.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.