Ruble Finishes Near 60 Versus The Dollar

The ruble increased 0.1% versus the dollar at 59.80 at 0810 GMT. It hit 60.41 as it rose from a nearly four-week record level of 57.70 on Friday.

Versus the euro, it accumulated 0.1% to 59.40. Meantime, the euro also fell to a new two-decade low versus the dollar.

Alfa Bank noted that the ruble should advance. According to it, the reasoning behind it will be the end-of-month tax period.

Month-end tax payments are usually immediate for export-focused firms. It allows them to convert their overseas currency earnings to the local one.

Moscow imposed capital controls to negate economical stability worries. Hence, YTD the ruble became the world’s best-performing currency.

Yandex Shares Increasing

Ruble volatility has declined after wild swings that scored a lowest of 121.53 to the dollar on the Moscow Exchange in March, after Moscow shipped tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 and rebounded to a seven-year high of 50.01 in June.

The dollar-denominated RTS index increased 0.9% on the stock market to 1,184.6 points. The ruble-based MOEX Russian index stood 1% higher at 2,249.7 points.

Shares in Yandex bounced 2.3% behind it. Yandex confirmed that it would sell its news platform and yandex.ru to state-controlled rival VK. This is a dramatic move that could further restrict Russians’ key to independent media.