Russian rouble hits near three-week low vs dollar

The Russian rouble hit a near three-week low against the dollar on Monday, as the market waited for the finance ministry to announce its domestic market foreign currency interventions for the month ahead. The finance ministry switched to selling foreign currency last month after lower than expected energy revenues in December.

The Russian rouble hit a near three-week low against the dollar on Monday, as the market waited for the finance ministry to announce its domestic market foreign currency interventions for the month ahead. At 0716 GMT, the rouble was 0.1% weaker against the dollar at 91.17, earlier hitting 91.40, its weakest point since Jan. 16.

It was steady at 98.28 versus the euro and had shed 0.2% against the yuan to 12.64. The finance ministry switched to selling foreign currency last month after lower than expected energy revenues in December. FX sales tend to support the rouble.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 0.2% at $77.51 a barrel. Russian stock indexes were mixed.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.2% to 1,115.6 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.1% higher at 3,229.5 points. Moscow-listed shares in technology company Yandex were 3.9% lower after its parent company on Monday said it had agreed a 475-billion-rouble ($5.2 billion) cash and shares deal to sell its Russian assets to a consortium of Russian investors.

For Russian equities guide see For Russian treasury bonds see ($1 = 90.9500 roubles)