Russian rouble steady, market eyes government bonds auctions

MOSCOW: Russia's rouble held steady on Wednesday as the impact of the globally stronger dollar was offset by rising risk appetite and higher oil prices before the finance ministry's weekly auction of government bonds.

At 0747 GMT, the rouble was little changed at 65.57 against the dollar and 74.40 versus the euro .

The rouble showed a muted reaction to the U.S. dollar's advance to 16-month highs against six other major currencies, boosted by the strength of the U.S. economy.

"Overall, we attribute the general emerging markets forex resilience against rising dollar index, and generally increased sentiment volatility, to the widening global carry trade," analysts at VTB Capital said in a note.

The Russian central bank's key rate is 7.5 percent, higher than rates in developed economies. That supports the rouble through carry trades, where investors borrow dollars cheaply and buy into high-yielding rouble assets.

The rouble also gained support from higher oil prices. Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 1.23 percent at $76.84 a barrel.

The market awaits two auctions of treasury bonds, known as OFZ, later in the day. The auctions, which since August have been either cancelled or seen poor demand amid threats of more U.S. sanctions, are a gauge of market sentiment.

Russian stock indexes climbed higher.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 1.1 percent to 1,117.92 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index gained 1.2 percent to 2,326.84 points.

The MOEX is expected to trade in a range of 2,300-2,350 thanks to the stabilisation in oil prices and a recovery of risk appetite globally, Mikhail Poddubsky, an analyst at Promsvyazbank, said in a note.