Rouble steadies near two-week high vs dollar, stocks climb

MOSCOW: The Russian rouble stabilised on Monday near its strongest level in nearly two weeks, while stock indexes climbed towards record highs.

At 0738 GMT, the rouble was flat at 73.53 against the dollar after briefly touching its strongest level since Aug. 18 of 73.4475. It also stabilised at 86.77 versus the euro.

The rouble received support late last week after the US Federal Reserve stopped short of signalling when it could begin paring bond purchases, while expectations that the Russian central bank could raise rates in September increased.

Russia's annual inflation soared to a five-year high in August, keeping pressure on the central bank which sharply raised rates last month to combat stubbornly rising consumer prices ahead of the September parliamentary election.

This week, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, collectively known as OPEC+, are in focus as they will meet on Wednesday to discuss the oil output outlook.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was down 0.4% at $72.40 a barrel after jumping to a four-week high, as the market watched a powerful hurricane that slammed into the US Gulf coast, forcing shutdowns and evacuations of hundreds of offshore oil platforms.

Russian stock indexes were up.

The dollar-denominated RTS index rose 0.6% to 1,674.7 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.6% higher at 3,909.2 points, moving towards an all-time high of 3,949.07 it hit in mid-August.