The ruble falls to new lows as Russia attacks Ukraine

The Russian ruble plunged to a new low Thursday, after firing missiles at various Ukrainian cities, Russian forces dropped these bombs.

On Thursday, the Russian ruble hit a new low against the Swiss franc. Moreover, the euro fell to a multi-year low against the Swiss franc. These drops were after Russian forces fired missiles at multiple Ukrainian cities and landed troops on the country’s south shore. Riskier commodity-linked currencies, such as the Australian dollar, plummeted after Ukraine announced that Russia had begun a full-fledged invasion. Amid rumors of explosions in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and shooting near the city’s main airport, safe havens such as the yen and the US dollar were in high demand. The rouble dropped 5.77 percent to an all-time low of 86.1198 per dollar. The euro dropped as low as $1.1209, its lowest level since January 31.

Currencies Around the World

The Australian dollar fell as much as 0.90 percent to $0.7167. Meanwhile, the New Zealand dollar fell as high as 1.0% to $0.6706. “The situation appears to be worse before improving, which suggests commodity currencies may drop,” said Joseph Capurso, a strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (OTC: CMWAY). “If things become terrible,” he warned, the Australian dollar may touch $0.70, and the euro could fall “quite a bit further.”

Sterling held up better, falling 0.41 percent to $1.3490, its lowest level since February 15. For the first time since January 31, the US dollar index, which compares the greenback to six major currencies, climbed as high as 0.60 percent to 96.762.

Aside from its role as a haven, the dollar was boosted by anticipation that the Federal Reserve would begin raising interest rates next month. However, mounting concerns in Ukraine have traders scaling down bets on a larger half-point hike to 16 percent. They are down from 25 percent earlier in the day.

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