Rouble weakens past 74 on lower oil prices, risk aversion

MOSCOW: The Russian rouble weakened past 74 to the US dollar on Monday, hurt by slightly lower oil prices and global risk aversion amid rising COVID-19 cases worldwide.

At 0720 GMT, the rouble was 0.4% lower against the dollar at 74.03, its weakest since July 21, and had lost 0.6% to trade at 87.29 to the euro.

The rouble is expected to remain closer to the lower end of the 73.5-75.5 range against the dollar on Monday and its weakening is likely to be limited by still high oil prices and last week's central bank rate hike, Promsvyazbank said in a note.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was down 1.1% at $73.28 a barrel, but not far from the 2021 high of around $77.84 hit earlier this month.

Russian rouble falls to fresh six-month low vs dollar

The central bank raised its key rate by 100 basis points to 6.5% on Friday, its sharpest hike since 2014, and indicated that further increases were possible.

Russia needs higher rates to tame consumer inflation with more expensive lending and increased incentive for bank deposits.

However, more expensive lending will also hamper economic recovery.

Investors also have one eye on a US Federal Reserve meeting this week, looking for clues as to when the Fed may begin to tighten, BCS Global Markets said in a note.

Russian stock indexes were weaker.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.7% to 1,584.8 points.

The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.3% lower at 3,724.7 points.