Russian rouble hits new peaks

The rouble rallied to its strongest level since late 2008 against the dollar on Friday, spurred by high oil prices and a broad rise in the euro after the European Central Bank raised interest rates on Thursday. Reflecting the single currency's 1 percent rise versus the greenback, driven by expectations the ECB will raise rates again this year, the rouble gained 0.82 percent to 28.02 per dollar, its strongest since December 19, 2008.
Against the broadly stronger euro, the rouble gave up 0.18 percent to 40.41. Versus the euro-dollar basket, used by the central bank to track exchange rates, its net gain was 3 kopecks, to 33.65.