Russian rouble steadies after rally, MOEX nears record high

MOSCOW: The rouble steadied on Wednesday after pulling back from its strongest levels since August as the finance ministry held treasury bond auctions and the MOEX stock index headed towards an all-time peak thanks to higher risk appetite globally.

The rouble has been recovering since the U.S. presidential election in early November, paring losses inflicted by fears Moscow would see new Western sanctions related to the U.S. vote, the suspected poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and a political crisis in neighbouring Belarus.

By 1555 GMT, the rouble was little changed on the day at 73.52 against the dollar, retreating from its strongest level since Aug. 19 of 73.05 touched in the previous session.

The rouble looks overbought, which creates risks of downside moves, Otkritie Bank said in a note.

Other market players do not rule out a further strengthening of the rouble.

"If today sees further encouraging news on the stimulus front, demand for risk assets will remain strong. In this case, we think the rouble could firm to 73 and possibly even temporarily break through that level," Sberbank CIB said.

The finance ministry saw modest demand at two OFZ treasury bond auctions on Wednesday.

Russia uses OFZs to plug holes in the budget amid lower revenues from commodity exports and higher budget spending aimed at tackling the coronavirus crisis.

Russian banks have become prime purchasers of OFZs, but the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday told Reuters this was not hampering lending activity.

Versus the euro, the rouble was unchanged at 88.96 , far from levels of around 70 seen in early 2020 before oil prices collapsed and the coronavirus pandemic prompted wide-scale lockdowns.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 1.2pc at $49.41 a barrel, underpinned by positive news on COVID-19 vaccines that boosted investor optimism about a recovery in fuel demand.

On the stock market, the dollar-denominated RTS index was up 1.1pc at 1,379.0 points, its strongest level since early March.

The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was up 1.2pc to 3,219.1 points, after earlier rising to within a point of the all-time high of 3,226.89 hit in January.