Russian roubles falters as tax period ends, forex purchases

MOSCOW: The Russian rouble opened weaker on Thursday, hurt by the end of the tax payments period as well as by finance ministry forex purchases.The rouble had been helped in recent days by export-focused Russian companies converting parts of their dollar revenues into roubles in order to meet monthly tax payments which ended on Wednesday.

At 0815 GMT, the rouble was 0.16 percent weaker against the dollar at 56.43 and had lost 0.1 percent to trade at 68.83 versus the euro.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was up 0.26 percent at $64.90 a barrel after sharp falls in the previous two sessions.

Russian stock indexes were also on a decline.

The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.4 percent to 1,280 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.14 percent lower at 2,294 points.