Rouble climbs on rising oil prices ahead of Putin press conference

MOSCOW: The Russian rouble opened firmer on Thursday, ahead of President Vladimir Putin's annual news conference, thanks to rising oil prices and hopes over fresh coronavirus stimulus measures in the United States, which supported riskier assets.

At 0705 GMT, the rouble was 0.4% stronger against the dollar at 73.05, heading towards a near four-month high hit last week.

It was steady versus the euro at 89.38.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 1.2% at $51.71 a barrel, its highest since early March.

The situation on energy markets and the moderate strengthening of emerging market currencies will encourage buying in the rouble, said Bogdan Zvarich, chief analyst at Promsvyazbank, adding that the unit could test the level of 73 versus the greenback.

Positive noises from the United States helped the risk trade.

Top Democrats and Republicans sounded hopeful about agreeing on a $900 billion COVID-19 aid bill, and the Federal Reserve vowed to keep pouring cash into financial markets until its economy was on a sound footing.

The Russian market will have one eye on Thursday on Putin fielding questions from the media, an annual event, which can last for several hours and is due to begin at 1200 (0900 GMT) in Moscow.

Russian stock indexes were climbing.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 1.1% to 1,416.0 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.4% higher at 3,284.1 points.