RTRS:Ruble Weakens Third Day Against Dollar as Crude Drops on Europe
The ruble dropped for a third day against the dollar as oil, Russia’s main export earner, declined in New York.
The Russian currency lost 0.8 percent to 30.8675 per dollar as of 10:19 a.m. in Moscow, heading for the weakest closing level since Oct. 21. The ruble was little changed at 41.50 per euro, leaving it down 0.4 percent at 35.6507 against the central bank’s target dollar-euro basket.
Crude futures dropped 0.9 percent to $98.52 a barrel in New York after Italy’s 10-year bond yield closed yesterday for the second time in a week above the 7-percent threshhold that prompted Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek European-Union bailouts. The EU is Russia’s largest trading partner.
The Italian notes yielded 7.068 at yesterday’s close, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, compared with an 8.46 percent yield on similar maturity Russian debt. Russia’s finance ministry plans to sell 10-year ruble bonds today at a yield of 8.35 percent to 8.45 percent, according to a statement on its website yesterday, the highest it has paid for any goverment notes since October 2009.
Russia’s $3.5 billion of Eurobonds due 2020 dropped for a second day, pushing the yield up five basis points, or 0.05 percentage point, to 4.539 percent. Investors increased bets the ruble would weaken further, with non-deliverable forwards showing it at 31.3215 per dollar in three months, compared with 31.1228 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
