MOSCOW: The rouble extended the week’s losses in early trade on Friday, slumping to fresh lows against the US dollar, the euro and the yuan as the Russian currency traded without the support of a favourable month-end tax period.
At 0610 GMT, the rouble was 0.4% weaker against the dollar at 61.73, earlier coming within a whisker of the 62 mark and its weakest since Nov. 7.
It had lost 1% to trade at 65.10 versus the euro, at its weakest since July 7, and had shed 0.4% against the yuan to 8.76, slipping to its weakest since mid-October.
While the yuan has been making gradual inroads into Russia for years, the crawl has turned into a sprint in the past nine months as the currency swept into the country’s markets and trade flows, according to a Reuters review of data and interviews with 10 business and finance players.
The rouble has now lost support from a favourable month-end tax period that usually sees Russian exporters convert foreign currency revenues into roubles to pay local liabilities.
The Russian currency may also come under pressure from the upcoming oil price cap.
Russian rouble slumps to near 5-month low vs euro
European Union governments have tentatively agreed on a $60 a barrel price cap on Russian seaborne oil with an adjustment mechanism to keep the cap at 5% below the market price, according to diplomats and a document seen by Reuters.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia’s main export, was up 0.4% at $87.2 a barrel.
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