ET:Rouble down vs dollar on sliding oil, flight to safety
MOSCOW: The Russian rouble lost 0.6 percent against the dollar at opening on Monday, pushed down by fall in oil prices and continued worries about Greece's financial problems.
At 0615 GMT, the rouble traded at 28.34 versus the greenback , with investors damping the rouble for the safety of the American currency.
Markets across the globe remain jittery after the International Energy Agency (IEA) decided last week to release extra 60 million barrels of oil to spur economic activity.
And growing concerns of a messy end to Greece's debt woes add to the gloomy short-term outlook.
Brent slipped below $104 per barrel on Monday , extending last week's losses .
"After last week's surprise action by the IEA (to release stock oil) and the slight downgrade of the U.S. growth forecasts by the U.S Fed, the oil price is also at a critical juncture," Chris Weafer, a strategist in Moscow said.
"Sentiment rather than supply-demand is now the key driver of the oil price."
The rouble remains extremely susceptible to changes in crude prices, Russia's main exports. Revenues from oil and gas products make up 40 percent of the state's annual budget.
Investors are also damping riskier assets - and Russia's rouble still falls into this category - ahead of the vote on Tuesday by the Greek parliament an austerity package.
The result will impact the euro-dollar market and affect the rouble trade later for the rest of the week, analysts say.
The Russian currency firmed 0.2 percent on the day against the euro to trade at 40.06 .
Versus the euro-dollar basket the central bank uses to guide the rouble's nominal exchange rate, the rouble weakened 0.2 percent to 33.61
"The basket is gaining -- cheaper oil and unresolved Greece's issues will keep pushing it upwards, offsetting current tax payments," said Andrei Mishko, a trader with Nomos-Bank, adding the rouble can slid against the basket to as much as 33.70.
Exporters are due to pay Monday and Tuesday a series of taxes, including excise, income and mineral extraction liabilities, which could drain as much as 350 billion roubles ($12.37 billion) - 450 billion roubles out of the market.
