Russian rouble falls to over 2-week low past 61 vs dollar

Flint

07/10/2022 09:00

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       MOSCOW, Oct 7 (Reuters) - The rouble fell to a more than
two-week low past 61 against the dollar on Friday, extending
weekly losses as fears subsided that new sanctions against
Russia might halt foreign exchange trading in Moscow.
    Geopolitics and sanctions risks have buffeted Russian
markets in recent weeks since President Vladimir Putin moved to
annex four regions of Ukraine after Moscow held what it called
referendums - votes that were denounced by Kyiv and Western
governments as illegal and coercive. 
    At 0734 GMT, the rouble was 0.8% weaker against the dollar
at 61.39  RUBUTSTN=MCX , sliding to its weakest point since Sept
21. 
    It had lost 0.2% to trade at 59.24 versus the euro
 EURRUBTN=MCX  and shed 0.8% against the yuan to 8.62
 CNYRUBTOM=MCX .
    "The yuan was more attractive than the dollar for the fourth
day running," said Promsvyazbank analysts. "Thus, liquidity of
the Chinese currency remains higher than dollar and euro
liquidity, which we link to the toxicity of Western currencies."
    After soaring to a near eight-year high against the euro a
week ago, the rouble has weakened in the past few sessions as
concerns that new sanctions would seek to paralyse dollar and
euro trading on Moscow Exchange proved unfounded. 
    The European Union's eighth sanctions package targeted steel
and tech products, as well as an oil price cap for some Russian
crude deliveries.         
    Brent crude oil  LCOc1 , a global benchmark for Russia's
main export, was up 0.4% at $94.8 a barrel.    
    Russian stock indexes were falling.
    The dollar-denominated RTS index  .IRTS  was down 2% to
1,023.6 points, hitting its weakest point since Sept. 26. The
rouble-based MOEX Russian index  .IMOEX  was 1.3% lower at
1,994.6 points.    
    European clearing giant Clearstream on Friday resumed the
processing of some depository receipt conversions into
Moscow-listed shares. Depository receipts allow investors to
trade in overseas stocks, but Russian investors have faced
difficulty in converting them due to EU sanctions. 
    For Russian equities guide see  RU/EQUITY 
    For Russian treasury bonds see  0#RUTSY=MM 
 (Reporting by Alexander Marrow
Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((alexander.marrow@thomsonreuters.com))