Rouble rebounds; Gazprom shares down

06 Sep, 2022

MOSCOW: The rouble turned to gains after slipping beyond the 61 mark against the dollar on Monday, while shares in Gazprom inched lower after Russia said it had stopped gas supplies to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

At 1142 GMT, the rouble was 0.3% stronger at 60.40 against the dollar after hitting 61.45, its weakest level since Aug. 16. Against the euro, it gained 1.9% to 59.70.

The rouble pared losses it incurred after the Moscow Exchange suspended trading on its foreign currency and precious metals markets for 85 minutes, citing a “revealed mistake in the configuration of the forex market’s trading system”.

Still, the rouble has been the world’s best-performing currency this year, buoyed by emergency capital controls rolled out by the central bank in a bid to halt a mass sell-off.

Rouble volatility has subsided since the currency hit a record low of 121.53 per dollar in Moscow trade in March, soon after Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine. It rallied to a seven-year high of 50.01 per dollar in June.

On the stock market, the dollar-denominated RTS index dipped 0.1% to 1,282.9 points and the rouble-denominated MOEX Russian index was 0.4% lower at 2,455.1 points.

Shares in Gazprom underperformed the market and fell 0.8% on the day after rallying last week thanks to a dividend payment announcement.

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