Russian rouble eases after rally; oil pushes stocks higher

MOSCOW: The Russian rouble eased on Tuesday after rallying the previous day on higher oil prices and positive news about a COVID-19 vaccine, while the benchmark stock index MOEX climbed above the 3,000 threshold for the first time since early September.

The rouble rode a volatility wave in the past few weeks, hitting its lowest level since late 2014 against the euro on the eve of US election and posting its biggest one-day gain against the dollar the next day after the vote.

At 1430 GMT, the rouble shed 0.5% to 76.67 against the dollar after hitting 75.75 the day before, its strongest level since Sept. 22.

It was also down 0.5% versus the euro, at 90.61 , having hit 89.76 on Monday, a level previously seen on Sept. 25.

"We expect that the ratcheting-down of political tension will support the Russian currency, which we expect to hold at around the 76 level (versus the dollar)," Sberbank CIB said, referring to the latest ceasefire deal in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Against the backdrop of lower political risks and recovering oil prices, Russia is preparing to tap the global debt market with two euro-denominated Eurobond issues.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 1.4% at $43 a barrel after its biggest jump in more than five months on Monday driven by drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech saying an experimental COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective based on initial trial results.

Russian stock indexes were mixed after a short-lived drop in early trade, driven by profit-taking.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.2% to 1,234.0 points, pausing after rallying for five days in a row. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.7% higher at 3,007.8 points.

Shares in Russia's largest lender, Sberbank, were up 3.4% on the day, outperforming the market, after its CEO said the bank planned to pay 50% of net profit in dividends in 2021-23.