Russian rouble falls as appetite for risk wanes

MOSCOW: The Russian rouble weakened on Thursday as geopolitical concerns and disruption in emerging markets made investors wary of risky assets.

At 0754 GMT, the rouble was down 0.24 percent against the dollar at 68.10 after reaching 69.01, its weakest since April 2016, last week.

Against the euro, the rouble lost 0.1 percent to 79.67 , remaining under pressure even though the central bank halted its daily purchasing of foreign currency last week.

"The weight of the geopolitical premium and the factor of the global sales of emerging countries' currencies is a pretty enormous," analysts at BCS brokerage said.

Prices rose for crude oil, Russia's main export, as U.S. crude inventories declined. Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for crude, was up 0.38 percent at $77.43 a barrel.

Growing oil prices are backing up the rouble, analysts at VTB said in a note.  "But the sentiment remains vulnerable to geopolitics and sanction talk," the analysts said.

U.S. sanctions against Russia, tied to an attack on a former Russian agent in Britain, came into effect on Monday, and a second batch may be imposed after 90 days.

U.S. senators have also prepared a draft bill that includes restrictions on investment in new Russian sovereign debt and bans several state-run Russian banks from operating in the United States.

Russian stock indexes rose. The dollar-denominated RTS index  was up 0.33 percent to 1,088.71 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.23 percent higher at 2,353.47 points, its highest since July 10.

"The favourable external background, coupled with the ongoing devaluation of the rouble, that helped exporters to benefit, allowed the index to focus on new historical highs," analysts at BCS brokerage said.