MOSCOW: The Russian rouble steadied near 91 to the dollar on Tuesday, while shares in leading lender Sberbank surged to a more than two-year high.
At 0744 GMT, the rouble was unchanged against the dollar at 91.28 and had gained 0.2% to trade at 99.01 versus the euro. It had firmed 0.1% against the yuan to 12.64.
The rouble has now lost support of month-end tax payments that usually see exporters convert foreign currency revenues to meet local liabilities. Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia’s main export, was down 0.4% at $82.49 a barrel. Russian stock indexes were lower.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.2% to 1,135.0 points.
The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.3% lower at 3,286.9 points.
Russian rouble recovers some ground against US dollar
Shares in dominant lender Sberbank climbed past the 300 roubles per share mark in early trade to reach their highest since early January 2022.
Alor Broker’s Alexei Antonov said the market is expecting a pre-dividend rally from Sberbank shares.
The bank expects to pay 50% of last year’s record profits in dividends.
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