Russia's rouble stabilises with an eye on sanction risks

MOSCOW: The rouble stabilised in light trade on Friday, paring earlier gains as players kept an eye on the risk of new US sanctions against Russia, while stock indexes rose after the OPEC+ group agreed to ease production cuts.

At 1158 GMT, the rouble was almost flat against the dollar at 76.21, away from a one-week low of 76.44 touched on Thursday.

The dollar steadied ahead of data from the United States that is expected to show an increase in job creation and a lower unemployment rate for March.

Lacking momentum as major exchanges were closed for the long Easter weekend, the rouble was pricing in a 3% increase in Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export. Brent last traded at $64.65.

Oil prices inched higher despite the OPEC+ group's decision to ease production curbs by 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) in May, another 350,000 bpd in June and 400,000 bpd or so in July.

But the rouble was still weaker than levels of around 73 versus the dollar just before President Joe Biden said last month Russia should "pay a price" for meddling in US elections and cyber-hacking, allegations that Moscow denies.

Finam brokerage said news on sanctions could push the dollar to 77 versus the rouble.

But should the US government suspends the sanctions talk, the rouble could gradually firm past 75 against the greenback, Veles Capital analyst Yury Kravchenko said.

The threat of new US sanctions has crimped the Russian market for weeks, even though no new penalties have ensued so far.

Against the euro, the rouble was up 0.1% at 89.70.

Russian stock indexes inched higher. The dollar-denominated RTS index rose 0.8% to 1,468.6 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.7% higher at 3,551.9 points, advancing towards an all-time high of 3,602.18 it hit last month.