Russian rouble regains some ground lost in 'autumn slide'
MOSCOW, Oct 11 (Reuters) -The Russian rouble strengthened further on Friday after rallying by 1.2% against China's yuan in the previous session but remained at one-year lows against all major currencies following a slide in recent weeks.
At 0800 GMT, the rouble was up 0.5% against the yuan at 13.55, according to LSEG data. In trade on the Moscow Stock Exchange (MOEX), the rouble was up 0.51% at 13.48 to the yuan.
The rouble RUB= was up 0.5% at 96.10 against the dollar, LSEG data showed. The Russian currency lost about 15% between Sept. 6 and Oct. 10 against major currencies in what some analysts have called an "autumn slide".
Analysts pointed to several factors behind the rouble's weakness, including the Oct. 12 expiry of a license from the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) which allowed commercial banks to deal with MOEX.
The license was issued to allow banks to wind down operations with MOEX after Western sanctions on the exchange and its clearing agent, the National Clearing Centre, were introduced on June 12.
The sanctions stopped all trade in dollars and euros at MOEX, making China's yuan the most traded foreign currency in Russia.
Trade in dollars and euros has shifted to the over-the-counter (OTC) market, obscuring price data.
There is concern in the market that Chinese banks providing yuan liquidity for exchange trading could pull out for compliance reasons after the OFAC license expires.
Traders said that active forex purchases in recent days were linked to the deal to sell the Russian business of Unilever, which became the latest multinational company to exit Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia raising the one-off contribution that foreign companies leaving the country must make to the state treasury to as high as 35% from 15%, reported on Oct. 10, supported the rouble on Thursday and Friday, traders said.
One-day rouble-dollar futures, which trade on the Moscow exchange and are a guide for OTC market rates, were up 0.68% at 95.18. The central bank's official exchange rate, which it calculates using OTC data, was set at 97.23 to the dollar.
The rouble was flat at 105.73 against the euro EURRUB=, LSEG data showed.
Brent crude oil LCOc1, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was down 0.97% to $78.53 a barrel.
Reporting by Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
