Rouble recovers after clipping over one-month low vs dollar

The Russian rouble hit a more than one-month low in early trade on Thursday before recovering to strengthen on the day, buffeted by relatively low oil prices and the reduced supply of foreign currency from exporters.

The Russian rouble hit a more than one-month low in early trade on Thursday before recovering to strengthen on the day, buffeted by relatively low oil prices and the reduced supply of foreign currency from exporters. President Vladimir Putin and the heads of Russia's central bank, finance ministry and economy ministry are due to speak at a forum hosted by VTB Bank later on Thursday.

At 0724 GMT, the rouble was 0.3% stronger against the dollar at 92.53, having earlier touched its weakest point since Nov. 3 at 93.56. It had gained 0.5% to trade at 99.68 versus the euro and had firmed 0.3% against the yuan to 12.91 .

"Rouble devaluation is continuing," said Alexei Antonov of Alor Broker, expecting the rouble to head towards 97.5 to the dollar in the coming sessions. It has fallen from around 89 to the dollar at the start of last week. The rouble has now lost support from the month-end tax period, for which Russian exporters usually convert foreign currency into roubles.

Before last week, the currency had enjoyed seven weeks of gains. It has rebounded from more than 100 to the dollar, thanks to high interest rates and reduced capital outflows since Putin introduced the forced conversion of some foreign currency revenue for exporters in October. The market will be closely following Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina on Thursday, who could issue a fresh signal ahead of the bank's final rate decision of the year next week.

Analysts polled by Reuters expect the Bank of Russia to raise rates to 16% on Dec. 15. Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 0.6% at $74.71 a barrel, recovering slightly after sliding to a more than five-month low in the previous session.

Russian stock indexes were mixed. The dollar-denominated RTS index was up 0.1% to 1,045.9 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.3% lower at 3,071.5 points.

For Russian equities guide see For Russian treasury bonds see

 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)