Russian rouble slides as oil prices, risk appetite fade

MOSCOW: The Russian rouble opened weaker on Monday, heading away from a two-week high hit on Friday as declining oil prices and pessimism over a US stimulus package hurt riskier assets.

At 0808 GMT, the rouble was 0.3pc weaker against the dollar at 77.00, pulling away from its strongest mark since Sept. 25 of 76.66 reached in the previous trading session.

It also lost 0.2pc to trade at 90.99 versus the euro.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was down 1.5pc at $42.23 a barrel.

Riskier currencies slipped after negotiations over a new $1.8 trillion economic stimulus proposal from the Trump administration ran into resistance from congressional Democrats and Republicans on Saturday, diminishing hopes for a coronavirus relief deal before the Nov. 3 election.

Political unrest in Kyrgyzstan, turmoil in neighbouring Belarus, a military conflict in the South Caucasus and the suspected poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny have all exerted pressure on the rouble in recent weeks.

Some geopolitical risks have eased, said Alor Broker analyst Alexei Antonov, such as the risk of sanctions over the Navalny affair and the danger of Russia getting involved militarily in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict after the opposing sides agreed to a truce on Saturday.

However, the Russian-brokered ceasefire looked increasingly fragile after Azerbaijan and Armenia accused each other of serious violations and crimes against civilians on Sunday.

Domestic support for the rouble has come from the central bank stepping up its foreign currency sales this month.

The bank, which reports the sales with a two-day lag, said on Monday it sold 8.6 billion roubles ($111.7 million) worth of forex last Thursday.

It was also due to hold two repo auctions on Monday. Russian stock indexes were rising.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 0.2pc to 1,166.6 points.

The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.6pc higher at 2,851.0 points.