The Russian rouble dropped to a near two-week low against the U.S. dollar on Monday, as a rally sparked by hopes of a resolution to the war in Ukraine eased and a favourable month-end tax period passed.
By 1411 GMT, the rouble was down 0.2% at 89.57 to the dollar in over-the-counter market trade, earlier passing the 90 threshold for the first time since February 19.
It also weakened by around 1% to 12.34 against the yuan, the most traded foreign currency in Russia.
The rouble is still up against the dollar this year, mostly thanks to expectations of improved relations between Moscow and Washington that could produce some kind of conflict resolution in Ukraine and a possible easing of sanctions.
Russian rouble weakens versus dollar
“At the end of last week, a cautious correction of the rouble, which became noticeably stronger in February, started to materialise,” said Denis Popov of Promsvyazbank.
“Over the last weekend, the narrative about the impossibility of a soon finding a geopolitical compromise strengthened, which will likely reinforce the severity of a correction of rouble quotes to weaker levels.”
The rouble has also lost support from a favourable tax period that usually sees exporters convert foreign currency earnings into roubles to meet local liabilities.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia’s main export, was up 0.1% at $73.24 a barrel.
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