BLBG:Ruble Snaps Three Days Of Declines As Oil Advances
The ruble strengthened for the first time in four days and bonds gained as oil rallied and better- than-estimated economic data in Europe’s largest economies boosted the outlook for Russian exports.
The Russian currency appreciated 0.2 percent to 31.7836 per dollar as of 2:05 p.m. in Moscow. The ruble gained 0.2 percent to 39.26 per euro and rose 0.2 percent against the central bank’s euro-dollar basket. The yield on the government’s ruble debt due March 2014 fell two basis points, or 0.02 percentage point, to 6.65 percent.
“Oil has gained and volatility has declined, helping the ruble to strengthen,” Alexander Morozov, the chief economist for Russia at HSBC Holdings Plc in Moscow, said by e-mail today.
Crude, Russia’s main source of export earnings, rose 0.4 percent to $93.13 a barrel in New York. German gross domestic product slowed less than economists forecast in the second quarter, while France’s economy unexpectedly avoided a contraction. Russia sends about half of its exports to the European Union, according to the latest data compiled by the World Trade Organization for 2010.
Investors pared bets on the ruble falling further, with non-deliverable forwards showing the currency slipping to 32.276 in three months, versus 32.3765 per dollar yesterday.
The extra yield investors demand to own Russia’s dollar bonds over U.S. Treasuries fell three basis points, or 0.03 percentage point, to 226, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s EMBI Global Index.
The finance ministry is due to announce guidance today for an auction of local-currency debt tomorrow.
“The sentiment we are having now is better than average,” Esther Law, a London-based director of emerging-markets strategy at Societe Generale SA, said by phone today. “Depending which bond they are going to issue, it’s a good chance there will be good demand.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Lyubov Pronina in Moscow at lpronina@bloomberg.net; Michael Patterson in London at mpatterson10@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gavin Serkin at gserkin@bloomberg.net
