MOSCOW: The rouble weakened on Thursday after paring recent heavy losses for five days in a row, while stock indexes dipped, with investors keeping an eye on tensions between Moscow and the West that led to a major sell-off in January.
At 0701 GMT, the rouble eased 0.6% to 76.46 against the dollar to 76.46, having on Wednesday hit 75.68, its strongest since Jan. 17.
The rouble has moved away from a near 15-month low of 80.4125 hit last week when it was battered by concerns that Russia plans to invade neighbouring Ukraine, something Moscow has repeatedly denied.
Russian rouble near 2-week high vs dollar, with focus on Ukraine
Russian markets remain highly volatile and vulnerable to any headlines related to political developments.
Versus the euro, the rouble weakened 0.4% to 86.36.
The market is awaiting an announcement later in the day from the finance ministry on how it plans to replenish its hard currency reserves in the month ahead.
However, any immediate impact on the rouble is expected to be minimal as Russia last month suspended daily state FX buying on the market to ease pressure on its falling currency.
The rouble should receive support from a central bank rate increase that the market has factored in for Feb. 11 after inflation, the bank's main area of responsibility and which it targets at 4%, climbed to 8.82%, its highest since early 2016.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was down 0.4% at $89.18 a barrel, hovering near its strongest since October 2014 and supporting Russia's current account surplus and other economic fundamentals.
Russian stock indexes were down, following gains in the past few days.
The dollar-denominated RTS index shed 1.7% to 1,439.6 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 1.4% lower at 3,495.0 points.
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