MOSCOW: The rouble fell to its lowest level against China’s yuan since Oct. 11, 2023 on Thursday ahead of a Russian finance ministry announcement on next month’s sales of foreign currency.

At 0800 GMT the rouble was at 13.46 against the yuan after hitting 3.5 during the trading session at the Moscow Stock Exchange.

The rouble was up 0.7% at 94.95 against the US dollar, LSEG data showed. One of the factors behind the rouble’s weakness was the historic low daily sales of the Chinese currency by the state in September, which contributed to a yuan liquidity crunch.

The finance ministry is due to announce new parameters on Thursday.

Traders said a long holiday in China was also a factor in the rouble’s weakness with ‘today’ settlements suspended until Oct. 8, and transactions with ‘tomorrow’ settlements not executed until then.

Russian rouble flat against dollar

Trading in major currencies in Russia has shifted to the over-the-counter (OTC) market, obscuring price data, since Western sanctions on the Moscow exchange and its clearing agent, the National Clearing Centre, were introduced on June 12.

The sanctions also made the Chinese yuan the most traded foreign currency in Russia. One-day rouble-dollar futures, which trade on the Moscow exchange and are a guide for OTC market rates, were flat at 94.63.

The central bank’s official exchange rate, which it calculates using OTC data, was set at 94.51 to the dollar.

The rouble was up 0.55% at 105.07 against the euro , LSEG data showed.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia’s main export, was up 1% at $74.63.