Ruble Storms to 2015 Highs as Exporters Sell Off Foreign Currency
The Russian ruble rose to new 2015 highs on Wednesday, shrugging off a decline in oil prices as Russian exporters continued to sell forex to pay monthly taxes.
At 08:00 GMT, the ruble was 0.8 percent stronger against the dollar at 57.22, and 0.6 percent stronger at 62.66 versus the euro.
The Russian currency had earlier set new 2015 highs of 57.09 against the dollar and 62.44 against the euro.
On Tuesday the ruble rose 2 percent against the dollar, helped by the need for exporters to convert foreign currency to pay a mineral extraction tax, VAT and excise duties falling due today.
“The positive [tendency] on the ruble spot market is evidently caused not only by active sales of export earnings but also by a general increase in optimism,” analysts at Rosbank said in a note.
They added that the ruble had breached its 100-day moving average of 58.75 per dollar, which would encourage buyers.
Analysts at VTB Capital said the ruble has been one of the strongest emerging market currencies this year, having fully pared first quarter losses against the dollar despite a 4.6 percent decline in oil benchmark Brent.
The ruble was also resilient to lower oil prices on Wednesday, shrugging off a 0.2 percent decline in Brent to $55 per barrel.
Forex Club analyst Alena Afanaseva said in a note that the behavior of household depositors may also be driving the rally, with Russians flocking to convert savings into rubles that they sold in a panic in December.
Russia’s dollar-based RTS stock index also saw further gains on Wednesday, driven by the stronger ruble which increases stock prices in dollar terms.
At 08:00 GMT the RTS was up 1.3 percent while the ruble-based MICEX index was flat at 1,619 points.
Source: The Moscow Times – Ruble Storms to 2015 Highs as Exporters Sell Off Foreign Currency
