The ruble strengthened against the dollar, poised for its biggest weekly gain in four as signs of economic recovery in the U.S. drove demand for oil, Russia’s chief export earner. The Russian currency appreciated 0.5 percent to 29.525 per dollar as of 10:10 a.m. in Moscow, its strongest intraday position since Sept. 8. A close at that level would mean a weekly gain of 1.3 percent, its eighth consecutive advance and the biggest since Jan. 29. The ruble lost 0.5 percent to 39.45 per euro and was little changed at 33.9907 against the central bank’s target dollar-euro basket. Oil jumped 0.6 percent to $108.49 a barrel in New York crude futures trading after a report showed U.S. jobless claims held at the fewest since March 2008, signalling stronger demand in the world’s largest consumer of the commodity. A report today may show Germany’s gross domestic product grew 1.5 percent last quarter, an eighth period of expansion. Russia’s $2 billion of Eurobonds due 2015 fell for a second day, pushing the yield up two basis points, or 0.02 percentage point, to 2.633 percent. Dollar bonds due in 2015 from OAO Sberbank, Russia’s largest lender, yielded five basis points less than yesterday at 3.958 percent, while the yield on similar-maturity notes issued by state gas monopoly OAO Gazprom dropped seven basis points to 3.881 percent. Investors pared bets the ruble will weaken, with non- deliverable forwards showing the Russian currency at 29.819 per dollar in three months, compared with expectations of 29.9385 per dollar yesterday. To contact the reporter on this story: Jack Jordan in Moscow at jjordan22@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net

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