MOSCOW: The Russian rouble weakened in early trade on Friday, cutting short a slight recovery in the previous session as fears over oil and gas sanctions unnerved markets, though it got some support from a month-end tax period.
At 0706 GMT, the rouble was 0.8% weaker against the dollar at 69.74, slipping back towards its weakest since April 28 of 72.6325, hit in the previous session.
It had lost 0.4% to trade at 73.87 versus the euro and shed 1% against the yuan to 9.87 .
Yuan-rouble trading volumes exceeded 15 billion yuan on Thursday, a record on Moscow Exchange. Russia will start buying yuan on the market next year if oil and gas revenues meet expectations, two sources told Reuters, a report that was later confirmed by Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.
Market jitters over the impact of an oil embargo and price cap have seen the rouble plunge in recent days, with weekly losses exceeding 15% at its weakest point on Thursday.
Siluanov said that a recovery in imports, which had collapsed as Western nations imposed harsh sanctions on Moscow over its actions in Ukraine, was also behind the currency’s slide.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia’s main export, was up 0.9% at $81.7 a barrel.
Analysts expect the rouble to find a foothold next week when month-end taxes, which usually see Russian exporters convert FX revenues to pay local liabilities, are due.
Russian stock indexes were lower.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 1% to 960.1 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.2% lower at 2,117.9 points.
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