MOSCOW: Russia's rouble firmed in early trade on Tuesday, paring Monday's losses that were triggered by Russia's seizure of Ukrainian naval ships off the coast of Russia-annexed Crimea.
The rouble was 0.3 percent stronger at 66.87 as of 0703 GMT, heading away from its weakest level since mid-November of 67.36 hit the day before.
The standoff between Russia and Ukraine reminded investors of 2014, when Moscow annexed Crimea and was stung by Western sanctions.
The finance ministry was due to decide whether to hold a weekly auction of government bonds on Wednesday and what volume of bonds, known as OFZs, to offer.
Demand for OFZ bonds is seen as a gauge of market sentiment, given uncertainty about whether Washington will impose sanctions on holdings of Russian state debt.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was down 0.6 percent at $60.15 a barrel but headed away from this year's low of $58.41.
Russian stock indexes were up after posting losses the day before.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 1.1 percent to 1,096.4 points, the rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.7 percent higher at 2,324.2 points.
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