BLBG:Ruble Heads for Second Weekly Drop Versus Dollar on Oil, US Data
The ruble headed for its second weekly drop against the dollar, as oil, Russia’s chief export, traded near its lowest level in six weeks.
The Russian currency weakened less than 0.1 percent to 31.82 as of 1:54 p.m. in Moscow, poised for a weekly decline of 1.2 percent. The ruble was 0.1 percent stronger at 41.4650 versus the euro, leaving it little changed at 36.1575 against the central bank’s target dollar-euro basket.
Oil futures were 0.1 percent higher at $93.99 a barrel in New York after falling 1.1 percent yesterday to their lowest close since Nov. 2 because U.S. industrial production shrank for the first time since April and European factory output contracted.
Investors increased bets the Russian currency will weaken further, with non-deliverable forwards showing the ruble at 32.2560 per dollar in three months, compared with expectations of 32.2445 per dollar yesterday.
Russia’s dollar-denominated Eurobond due in 2020 rose, decreasing the yield eight basis points to 4.674 percent.
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
