Russian rouble edges up, MOEX hits record high

MOSCOW: The Russian rouble crept up against the dollar on Monday after  shrugging off lower purchases of foreign currency by the finance ministry, while an advance in oil prices steered the MOEX stock index to an all-time high.

The Russian currency opened unchanged against the dollar on Monday morning but recovered during the day as the dollar index -- which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of its main trading partners -- fell to 97.03 points, down from 97.39 seen earlier in the day.

At 1400 GMT, the rouble was up 0.4 percent to 65.08 versus the dollar, driven more by external factors rather than domestic developments, and was unchanged against the at 73.42 versus the euro.

"There is now a pause in domestic FX selling. The tax period in March is over, while the April tax period has yet to enter in full force," said Evgeniy Koshelev, chief analyst at Rosbank in Moscow.

Export-focused companies have to convert their foreign currency to pay their local tax bills.

At the same time, there are some uncertainties regarding external conditions such as sanctions and investor attitudes towards emerging markets, Koshelev said.

On the domestic data front, consumer inflation stabilised, increasing the chances of a central bank rate cut this year.

"This factor will act as support for the rouble ... in the absence of new information about sanctions," analysts at Nordea Bank said in a note.

The rouble also felt some relief from lower state foreign currency buying after the finance ministry said last week it would buy less foreign currency in April.

Oil prices were in focus as Brent crude futures rose towards $71 per barrel, their highest since November.

Higher oil prices should help the rouble to gain beyond 65 versus the dollar "in the absence of negative surprises related to sanctions," analysts at Promsvyazbank said.

Russian stock indexes started the week higher thanks to rising oil prices. The rouble-based MOEX hit its highest ever level of 2,555.5 points before paring gains to 2,550.2 points, up 0.4 percent on the day.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 0.8 percent to 1,235.1 points at 1400 GMT.