Russian rouble firms to one-month peak vs dollar

MOSCOW: The rouble rose to a one-month high against the dollar on Thursday, shrugging off U.S. accusations that Russia had tried to interfere with the 2020 presidential election.

At 1533 GMT, the rouble was 0.3% stronger against the dollar at 76.48 after touching 76.4325, its strongest since Sept. 23.

The rouble has recovered from earlier losses it suffered after U.S. Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe had said Russia and Iran have both tried to interfere with the presidential election, reminding markets about risks of more sanctions against Russia.

"The last US presidential debate is scheduled for today, where we note the risk of talk about election interference and possible responses," Sberbank CIB said in a note.

The rouble's weakness and concerns about the U.S. election were among reasons that analysts cited when they predicted that the Russian central bank would refrain from further rate cuts and would leave rates unchanged on Friday.

"Geopolitical risk may be higher today, as the US has once again accused Russia of election meddling - still, investors may not be too sensitive to such headlines," BCS Brokerage said.

The rouble is expected to gain some support from Russia's month-end taxes that usually prompt export-focused companies to convert part of their foreign exchange revenues to meet local liabilities.

Against the euro, the rouble gained 0.6% to 90.42 .

Russian stock indexes were up, reflecting a 2.2% increase in Brent crude oil prices to $42.67 per barrel.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 0.8% to 1,152.5 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.4% higher at 2,797.8 points.