MOSCOW: The rouble firmed in early trade on Wednesday, recovering from the previous day's losses as the market digested conflicting signals about possible new Western sanctions against Russia.
On Tuesday, volatility in the rouble soared after the main trading session as support from news that the United States had postponed a planned hearing on sanctions was offset by the Financial Times report that more could be imposed next month.
The rouble firmed 0.4 percent to 65.66 versus the dollar as of 0725 GMT, as traders bet that any new sanctions would be imposed only on individuals over a stand-off with Ukraine in the Azov Sea.
That "automatically limits their scale," analysts at Rosbank, a subsidiary of Societe Generale, said.
Against the euro, the rouble was 0.4 percent stronger at 74.39.
Wednesday's market focus will be two OFZ treasury bond auctions at which the finance ministry will for the first time not set a limit on the size of the offerings.
The central bank said on Tuesday that foreign investors increased their OFZ holdings last month at the highest pace since early 2018.
The rouble should obtain support from tax payments this week, Rosbank said. Export-focused companies generally convert part of their foreign currency revenues to pay the month-end taxes.
Russian stock indexes were down. The dollar-denominated RTS index shed 0.3 percent to 1,212.12 points, while the rouble-based MOEX Russian index fell 0.3 percent to 2,526.3. points.
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