MOSCOW: The Russian rouble was steady in early trade on Wednesday while stocks slid lower as investors searched for new market drivers and awaited the finance ministry's auction of government bonds.
The rouble eased 0.1 percent to 66.30 versus the dollar as of 0745 GMT after firming for three days in a row.
Against the euro, the rouble was little changed at 76.14 , away from its weakest level so far this year of 81.90 it hit a month ago.
The finance ministry is in focus as it has decided to test the market sentiment and offer 5 billion roubles ($75.41 million) worth of OFZ treasury bonds to banks after cancelling all but one weekly auction since late August.
Even though oil prices remained supportive, as Brent futures hovered at $84.74, Russian stocks indexes declined.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.3 percent to 1,156.3 points, while the rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.45 percent lower at 2,432.9 points.
Technical analysis suggests the RTS index is likely to consolidate within a range of 1,150-1,170 points, OLMA brokerage said in a note.
External conditions, particularly oil prices and risk sentiment, will remain the main drivers for the Russian stock market in the coming days, Promsvyazbank's analyst Mikhail Poddubsky said.
But the upcoming season of corporate results together with the rouble weakening in the third quarter could push the MOEX index back to record highs, Poddubsky said.
The MOEX hit its all-time high of 2,501.78 on Oct. 3, taking its year-to-date advance to more than 18 percent.
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