The Russian rouble edged higher on Monday, reclaiming some of last week’s losses as foreign currency supply begins to pick up, but with geopolitical risks and lower oil prices continuing to exert downward pressure.
At 0758 GMT, the rouble was 0.3% stronger against the dollar at 83.89 and was steady at 91.66 versus the euro . It had firmed 0.5% against the yuan to 11.70.
The rouble weakened around 2% against the dollar last week, blighted by volatile swings in a low liquidity market, eliciting comments on the rouble rate from senior officials, who suggested that an exchange rate of 80-90 per dollar is now preferable.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia’s main export, was down 0.6% at $76.17 a barrel. Despite lower energy prices this morning, the rouble should still win back some of the previous week’s losses, said Bogdan Zvarich, chief analyst at Banki.ru.
“The main reason for such dynamics may be the expectation of growth in the supply of foreign currency from exporters, who will be preparing for the peak of tax payments this week,” Zvarich said. Exporters usually convert foreign exchange revenues to pay local liabilities at the end of each month.
Russian rouble slides to weakest since early April vs dollar
Trading volumes with the dollar are likely to be lower with US markets closed on Monday for the Juneteenth holiday. Russian stock indexes were mixed.
The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.3% lower at 2,793.1 points, having clipped a more than 14-month high in early trade.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 0.2% to 1,049.1 points.
Shares in retailer Magnit were up 1.3%, extending gains from late on Friday when the company announced plans to buy back blocked shares at a 50% discount from foreign shareholders no longer able to trade its Moscow-listed securities.
Diamond producer Alrosa’s shares climbed 2.3% after a report that the company may pay dividends for the first half of 2023.
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