Volatile rouble falls again, cutting short slight recovery

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian rouble weakened in early trade on Friday, cutting short a slight recovery in the previous session as fears over oil and gas sanctions unnerved markets, though it got some support from a month-end tax period.

At 0706 GMT, the rouble was 0.8% weaker against the dollar at 69.74, slipping back towards its weakest since April 28 of 72.6325, hit in the previous session.

It had lost 0.4% to trade at 73.87 versus the euro and shed 1% against the yuan to 9.87.

Yuan-rouble trading volumes exceeded 15 billion yuan on Thursday, a record on Moscow Exchange. Russia will start buying yuan on the market next year if oil and gas revenues meet expectations, two sources told Reuters, a report that was later confirmed by Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.

GRAPHIC: Yuan vs dollar trading volumes on Moscow Exchange in 2022 (https://www.reuters.com/graphics/RUSSIA-CHINA/zdpxddgyepx/chart.png)

Market jitters over the impact of an oil embargo and price cap have seen the rouble plunge in recent days, with weekly losses exceeding 15% at its weakest point on Thursday.

Siluanov said that a recovery in imports, which had collapsed as Western nations imposed harsh sanctions on Moscow over its actions in Ukraine, was also behind the currency’s slide.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia’s main export, was up 0.9% at $81.7 a barrel.

Analysts expect the rouble to find a foothold next week when month-end taxes, which usually see Russian exporters convert FX revenues to pay local liabilities, are due.

Russian stock indexes were lower.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 1% to 960.1 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.2% lower at 2,117.9 points.

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(Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Andrew Heavens)