Russian rouble climbs to three-week high versus dollar
- The rouble climbed 0.4% to 73.63 against the dollar , having briefly touched 73.5225, its strongest mark since Jan. 21.
- Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was down 0.2% at $61.35 a barrel after hitting $61.69 on Wednesday.
MOSCOW: The Russian rouble rose to a three-week high against the dollar on Thursday, pricing in a recent recovery in oil prices above $60 per barrel, though tensions with the West over the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny could limit gains.
The rouble climbed 0.4% to 73.63 against the dollar , having briefly touched 73.5225, its strongest mark since Jan. 21.
"We think the rouble might test 73.50 today but, given the lack of catalysts, it may well drift back down to the 73.80 level by the close," Sberbank CIB said in a note.
Versus the euro, the rouble added 0.3% to 89.36 .
Any gains in the rouble could, however, be capped by the tensions between Moscow and the West. The European Union's top diplomat warned Russia it could face new sanctions over the jailing of Navalny, describing the government of President Vladimir Putin as merciless and authoritarian.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was down 0.2% at $61.35 a barrel after hitting $61.69 on Wednesday, its highest since late January 2020.
Russian stock indexes were up. The dollar-denominated RTS index rose 0.6% to 1,457.2 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index added 0.2% to 3,406.0 points.
The Russian stock market looks "rather vulnerable" but the stabilisation in the external backdrop and Brent crude above $61 per barrel lower the risk of a decline, said Evgeny Loktyukhov, head of research at Promsvyazbank.
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