Russian rouble leads currencies higher as oil rebounds

The Russian rouble led gains among emerging market currencies on Tuesday as oil rebounded from its worst week this year, while a jump in Hong Kong-listed technology stocks lifted the regional equities index.

The commodity-linked rouble was up 0.4% at 73.9190 to the dollar by 0745 GMT, having hit 74.5950 last week - its weakest since July 20.

The broader emerging markets currencies index rose 0.2%.

The equities index jumped 1.7% and was set for its best day in nearly a month as investors also hoped new COVID-19 cases globally would start edging down after China said on Monday there were no new locally transmitted cases for the first time since July.

"Hopes of peak COVID has had something to do with the 'feel good' factor ... and set the stage for what appears like a risk-on rebound that has lifted equities and most prominently, commodities," analysts at Mizuho wrote in a note.

Stocks and currencies in emerging markets took a beating last week on fears that a surge in the Delta variant of the coronavirus could spark new lockdowns at a time when the global economic rebound was already beginning to slow.

A widening regulatory crackdown in China had also sparked a sell-off in technology stocks, with the Hang Seng Tech index slumping to its lowest level in more than a year.

On Tuesday, the index jumped 6.4%, led by a 14% surge in the shares of e-commerce giant JD.com Inc and food-delivery giant Meituan.

The South African rand firmed slightly early ahead of the release of second-quarter unemployment data, while the Turkish lira was up 0.2%.

The Hungarian forint firmed 0.1% versus the euro ahead of a central bank policy meeting, where it is expected to raise interest rates for a third month in a row to combat higher-than-expected inflation. The currency has rallied more than 3% since the central bank hiked rates in July.

"Today, the central bank will likely confirm that it is not ending its hiking cycle to switch to data-driven mode - in which case, the market will be vindicated," said Tatha Ghose, FX analyst at Commerzbank.

"At the same time, any tentative sign that the central bank is thinking about pausing the hiking cycle soon will add to the scepticism and reverse the strength of the exchange rate."

Other eastern European currencies were muted versus the euro.