MOSCOW--The ruble firmed across the board in early trade on
Monday as oil prices stabilized before major month-end tax payments
in Russia.
The ruble gained 4% to 56.2 versus the dollar in the first
minutes of trade on the Moscow exchange, heading away from its
record low of 80.10 versus he dollar hit last week. Against the
euro, the ruble strengthened more than 4% to 69.3 as prices for
Brent crude rose above $60 a barrel.
The currency has become increasingly volatile since Russia's
central bank let the ruble float last month, with the currency
hitting fresh record lows on an almost daily basis until last week,
as the price of oil, Russia's key export, plunged below $60 a
barrel. The ruble selloff prompted authorities to step in with a
combination of verbal and financial intervention.
The central bank data released Monday showed it sold $500
million from the country's international currency reserves to halt
the ruble's rapid depreciation last Thursday. Since the beginning
of the month the central bank has sold more than $10 billion in a
bid to ease pressure on the ruble, which lost around 42% of its
value versus the dollar so far this year.
This week the ruble is expected to get support from monthly tax
payments, which usually prompt export-focused companies to convert
dollars and euros into rubles to meet local liabilities. Last week
President Vladimir Putin said he had personally contacted major
companies to convince them to sell foreign currencies on the
market.
Write to Andrey Ostroukh at andrey.ostroukh@wsj.com
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