Rouble near 4-1/2-mth high on rising oil prices, hopes of U.S. stimulus

MOSCOW: The Russian rouble on Thursday climbed to a near 4-1/2-month high, helped by rising oil prices and hopes of more pandemic relief in the United States, while President Vladimir Putin gave his annual news conference.

The rouble was 0.7pc stronger against the dollar at 72.82 by 1122 GMT, after touching 72.6475 earlier in the session, its strongest mark since Aug. 5.

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

Shares in gas giant Gazprom jumped nearly 3pc after Putin said he hoped the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project would be completed soon.

Putin also said a joint media investigation that identified named individuals as state security assassins responsible for the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and reminded markets of sanctions risks was a "trick" to attack Russia's leaders.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 0.2pc at $51.30 a barrel, its highest since early March, as progress towards a U.S. fiscal stimulus deal and strong Asian demand buoyed prices.

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.

If the rouble firms beyond 73 against the dollar, it could next target the level of 70, Zvarich said.

Against the euro, the rouble gained 0.3pc to 89.10 .

In the United States, 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 dollar-denominated RTS index was up 1.6pc to 1,422.1 points.

The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.5pc higher at 3,287.2 points.

On Friday, Russia will add two new names from the online sector to the MOEX index as technology firms lead a diversification drive on the stock market, long skewed towards the dominant commodities industries.