Russian rouble edges up vs US dollar despite losing support from state forex interventions
MOSCOW: The Russian rouble strengthened slightly against the US dollar on Tuesday due to expectations of direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, despite losing some support from the central bank's foreign currency sales.
By 0900 GMT the rouble was up around 0.5% to 80.60 to the US dollar, LSEG data based on over-the-counter quotes showed.
The Russian currency has risen by over 40% against the dollar so far this year.
'Starting from today, the volume of currency offered by the central bank will decrease by almost 40%, and the factor supporting the rouble will weaken,' BCS brokerage analysts said in a research note.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 11 proposed direct talks with Ukraine in Turkey's capital Istanbul this week.
The proposal won the backing of US President Donald Trump, who said he might join the talks.
Russian rouble strengthens vs US dollar in thin holiday trade
Net sales of foreign currency support the rouble, but from Tuesday they fell to 6.55 billion roubles per day from 10.49 billion roubles in the previous month as the Finance Ministry has said it will buy some foreign currency for the fiscal reserves.
Against the Chinese yuan, which is used by Russia's central bank for its foreign exchange interventions and is the most-traded foreign currency in Russia, the rouble was down 0.6% at 11.18 to the yuan on the Moscow Stock Exchange.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
an hour ago
- Business Recorder
Dollar lingers near six-week low
NEW YORK: The dollar hovered near six-week lows on Tuesday, as mounting evidence of economic damage from the trade war waged by President Donald Trump's administration weighed on sentiment. While global equity markets have broadly recovered in the wake of the on-again, off-again saga of Trump's tariff threats, the greenback remains firmly on the back foot. Factory and jobs data in the coming days may give further signs of the toll that trade uncertainty is wreaking on the world's biggest economy. US duties on imported steel and aluminium are set to double to 50% starting on Wednesday, the same day the Trump administration expects countries to submit their best offers in trade negotiations. 'What this whole dynamic is basically saying is trade tensions are not really improving in that regard, and we've seen the dollar getting hammered widely,' said Rodrigo Catril, senior FX strategist at National Australia Bank. 'Interestingly, the Aussie and the kiwi have been the good performers this time around.' The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six others, touched 98.58, the lowest since late April, before rising 0.5%. The dollar was up 0.26% against the yen at 143.075. The euro fell 0.44% to $1.1392, having briefly touched a six-week high of $1.1454. Data earlier showed inflation in the euro zone slowed below the European Central Bank's target of 2%, underpinning expectations for a rate cut later this week. The dollar sank broadly on Monday after data showed US manufacturing contracted for a third month in May and tariff snarls meant suppliers took longer to deliver goods. Attention now turns to US factory order numbers on Tuesday, followed by jobs data later in the week. The dollar got some respite last week, rising 0.3% after trade talks with the European Union got back on track and a US trade court blocked the bulk of Trump's tariffs. An appeals court reinstated the duties a day later, and Trump's administration said it had other avenues to implement them if it loses in court. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were likely to have a call soon to iron out trade differences, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday, although on Monday there was an angry rejection from China's Commerce Ministry of US accusations that Beijing violated their trade agreement. 'Trade developments remain crucial. Reports suggest China is gaining leverage over the US through its control of chip supply chains and rare earths,' ING strategist Francesco Pesole said. 'Trump and Xi Jinping are set to speak this week, and past direct talks have sometimes eased tensions. That leaves room for a positive surprise that could help the dollar at some point this week,' he said. Fiscal worries have also given rise to a broad 'sell America' theme that has seen dollar assets from stocks to Treasury bonds dropping in recent months.
Business Recorder
an hour ago
- Business Recorder
Copper falls as China's factory activity misses expectations
LONDON: Copper prices fell on Tuesday as factory activity in top metals consumer China missed expectations, indicating that US tariffs were affecting the manufacturing superpower while trade tensions between Washington and Beijing drag on. Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange lost 0.3% to $9,588 per metric ton in official open-outcry trading. The most active US Comex copper futures fell 1.5% to $4.786 a pound, reducing the premium against the LME benchmark to $940 a ton from Monday's $1,074. The Comex futures hit $4.9495, the highest since April 3, on Monday on concerns that US President Donald Trump's plan to double tariffs on steel and aluminium imports to 50% from Wednesday would mean that new US copper tariffs, subject to an ongoing investigation in Washington, were more likely. 'We are seeing a general decline following yesterday's run-up, with traders questioning the sustainability of these levels after another dose of weak China data overnight,' said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank. China's factory activity shrank for the first time in eight months - the Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing PMI fell to 48.3 in May, the lowest reading in 32 months, a private-sector survey showed. On Saturday, China's official PMI showed May factory activity fell for a second month. With the US manufacturing also contracting in May, for a third straight month, traders were waiting for a possible call between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. According to the White House, they were likely to speak this week. Providing support to the LME copper were the 21-day moving average, currently at $9,527, and continuing outflows from the stocks in the LME-registered warehouses. LME's daily data showed the inventory fell to 143,850 tons, the lowest in almost a year, after 4,600 were delivered out. The spread between the cash and the three-month copper contract was last at a premium of $49 a ton, indicating concerns about nearby supply in the LME system, partly related to Ivanhoe Mines' Kakula mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Among other LME metals, aluminium fell 0.8% to $2,447 a ton in official activity, zinc slipped 0.5% to $2,684, lead dipped 0.4% to $1,973, nickel shed 1.0% to $15,375, while tin rose 1.8% to $31,250.
Business Recorder
an hour ago
- Business Recorder
Chicago wheat turns higher
PARIS/SINGAPORE: Chicago wheat rose on Tuesday to reverse an earlier fall as news of further Ukrainian strikes against Russian targets kept attention on war escalation and offset supply pressure from better-than-expected US crop ratings. Corn and soybeans rebounded after hitting six-month and seven-week lows, respectively, that were also linked to good crop conditions. The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) ended the overnight trading session up 0.9% at $5.43-3/4 a bushel. The contract had risen sharply during Monday's session as a Ukrainian drone attack in Russia shifted attention back on the war between the two grain exporters. Prices pared their gains by Monday's close and then fell earlier on Tuesday as immediate fears of war escalation subsided and higher than anticipated scores for wheat conditions in a weekly US Department of Agriculture crop progress report. However, news that Ukraine had hit the road and rail bridge linking Russia and the Crimean peninsula, as well as also knocking out power in parts of other Russian-held territory in southern Ukraine, later revived concerns about a hardening conflict between the two grain exporting countries. 'It looks like the Ukrainians are pursuing their attacks,' a European trader said. Favourable Northern Hemisphere supply prospects, slow international demand and a bounce in the dollar index, which makes US grain dearer overseas, nonetheless kept a lid on wheat prices, traders said. CBOT corn added 0.9% to $4.42 a bushel, after reaching its lowest since early December at $4.34-1/4 earlier in the session. Soybeans rose 0.6% to $10.39-3/4 a bushel to hold above Monday's seven-week low of $10.32-1/2. The USDA rated 67% of US soybeans in good to excellent condition in its initial ratings of the 2025 soy crop, while for corn, the agency's rating improved to 69% good-to-excellent.
