Russian rouble heads towards recent lows, Navalny and Belarus in focus
- The US dollar rose to its highest in a week as investors bought into the safe-haven asset after the US Labor Department reported job growth slowed further in August.
- Market volatility increased in the second half of the day. The US market will be closed for a holiday on Monday.
MOSCOW: The Russian rouble pared earlier gains and weakened on Friday, moving towards recent lows it hit amid mounting geopolitical risks related to the suspected poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and the political crisis in neighbouring Belarus.
At 1517 GMT, the rouble was 0.4% weaker against the globally stronger dollar at 75.58, hovering near its weakest level since April of 76 that it hit last week.
The US dollar rose to its highest in a week as investors bought into the safe-haven asset after the US Labor Department reported job growth slowed further in August, with financial assistance from the government virtually depleted, threatening the economy's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Versus the euro, the rouble gained 0.1% to 89.12 , heading away from its weakest level since 2016 of 89.8050 that it also touched last week. The rouble is still far from levels of around 70 against the euro seen early this year.
Market volatility increased in the second half of the day. The US market will be closed for a holiday on Monday.
Weighing on demand for Russian assets, NATO allies agreed on Friday that Russia must cooperate fully with an impartial investigation to be led by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons into the poisoning of Navalny.
Political turmoil in Belarus continued, weighing on Russian assets due to concerns that Moscow may interfere in political processes there, which could lead to more anti-Russian sanctions.
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called on the United Nations on Friday to condemn a crackdown by President Alexander Lukashenko on protesters who charge he rigged his re-election victory last month.
On the stock market, Russian indexes inched lower, pricing in a 3% drop in Brent crude oil prices to $42.69 a barrel. The benchmark was on course for its biggest weekly decline since June as weak demand figures added to concern over a slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.5% to 1,216.9 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.5% lower at 2,919.0 points.
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