BLBG:Russian Ruble Weakens for Fourth Day Versus Dollar as Oil Falls Below $81
The ruble fell against the dollar for a fourth day, erasing its gain versus the greenback this week, as oil dropped below $81 a barrel.
The Russian currency depreciated 0.6 percent to 29.2795 per dollar by 11:40 a.m. in Moscow, adding to yesterday’s 1.3 percent decline and leaving it down 0.2 percent this week. It dropped 0.4 percent to 41.8675 per euro, heading for its lowest close since Aug. 11.
Oil, Russia’s chief export revenue earner, slid as much as 2.4 percent to $80.83 before trading at $80.81. Crude has dropped 5.7 percent this week, heading for its fourth weekly decline, on speculation that fuel demand will falter amid signs of slowing growth in the world’s biggest crude consumers.
Investors increased bets that the ruble will decline further, with non-deliverable forwards showing the currency at 29.6425 per dollar in three months compared with 29.6462 on Aug. 18. The contracts provide a guide to expectations of currency movements and interest-rate differentials and allow companies to hedge against currency swings.
The movements against the dollar and the euro left the ruble 0.4 percent weaker at 34.9107 against the central bank’s target currency basket, which is used to manage swings that hurt Russian exporters. The basket is calculated by multiplying the dollar’s rate to the ruble by 0.55, the euro to ruble rate by 0.45, then adding them together.
To contact the reporter on this story: Denis Maternovsky in Moscow at dmaternovsky@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net
