Russian Rouble Merges Around 88 to the Dollar, Floated by FX Deals

The Russian rouble opened slightly down on Wednesday, merging around the 88-to-the-dollar mark.

At 0715 GMT, the rouble was 0.38% more fragile against the dollar at 88.20 and had lost 0.19% to exchange at 95.82 versus the euro. It had shed 0.42% against the yuan to 12.17.

In a note, Alexei Antonov, head of speculation counseling at Russia’s Alor Merchant, said the rouble looked solid for the time being, because of low occasional interest for unfamiliar cash from shippers, as well as FX deals by Russia’s national bank.

State FX deals, completed by the national bank, are set to add up to what could be compared to 16.7 billion roubles ($189.35 million) of unfamiliar cash a day for the rest of January, after the money service changed to making deals from buys after December oil and gas income was lower than anticipated.

That, alongside existing capital controls obliging exporters to change over unfamiliar cash incomes, is supporting the rouble.

Brent unrefined petroleum, a worldwide benchmark for Russia’s principal trade, was down 0.84% at $77.63 a barrel.

Russian stock files were down marginally.

The dollar-designated RTS record was down 0.60% to 1,134 places. At 3,177 points, the MOEX Russian index based on the rouble was 0.09 percent lower.