The Russian rouble dipped at the start of trading on Monday, while Moscow’s stock markets rose, despite fears of a global banking contagion following an emergency state-backed takeover of troubled lender Credit Suisse over the weekend.
The Russian rouble was down 0.4% against the US dollar to 77.39 at 0720 GMT.
The currency was also 0.5% weaker against the euro at 82.37, and had shed 0.5% against the Chinese yuan to 11.23. Global markets are on edge after UBS Group agreed on Sunday to swallow smaller peer Credit Suisse in a state-backed rescue.
Russia’s central bank and top financial executives have downplayed fears the crisis could hit Russian markets. “We do not see a domino effect on the Russian system,” central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina said when asked about the prospects of a banking crisis in a press conference on Friday after holding interest rates at 7.5%.
“Our Russian financial system is much less connected with the global one … And secondly, as far as the stability of our banks is concerned, they are less exposed to the kind of vulnerability that banks in the United States and the European Union are showing,” she added.
Global oil prices were also falling sharply, with benchmark Brent crude down more than 2% on Monday morning.
Lower oil prices typically weigh on the value of the Russian rouble and hit the country’s commodity-heavy stock market. But stocks were rising in Moscow during early trading.
Russian rouble weakens towards near 11-month low vs dollar
The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 0.8% to 956.8 points, while the rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 1.1% higher at 2,347.6 points.
VTB Bank shares were up by more than 7%, while Sberbank rose more than 2.5% after it announced a record dividend payout on Friday.
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