Russian rouble falls 1pc vs dollar, stocks down along with oil prices

MOSCOW: The rouble weakened on Friday as Russia passed the peak of month-end tax payments that usually underpin the currency and as oil prices headed lower, putting pressure on the stock market.

At 1422 GMT, the rouble was 1% weaker against the dollar at 69.70 and had shed 0.8% to trade at 78.10 versus the euro.

Risks for the rouble are tilted towards weakening for the rest of the day, in view of the looming weekend, globally high uncertainty about coronavirus and the pace of business recovery, said Grigory Zhirnov, an analyst at Nordea Bank in Moscow.

Support from Russian month-end taxes has faded with the passing of the peak of payments for which export-focused companies usually convert foreign currency revenues to meet local liabilities.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was down 0.7% at $40.77 a barrel, erasing earlier gains, on concerns about rising new coronavirus cases in the United States and China.

The dollar-denominated RTS index fell 0.8% to 1,246.9 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was down 0.2% at 2,756.2 points.

Shares in Russia's gas giant Gazprom slightly outperformed the market by climbing 0.1% on the day after the company said it was in talks to raise annual gas flows to China.