MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian rouble firmed to a more than three-week high against the dollar on Monday, buoyed by rising oil prices but restrained by fears about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, plans for which Moscow has repeatedly denied.
At 0730 GMT, the rouble gained 0.3% to 75.60 against the dollar after touching its strongest level since Jan. 13 of 75.5825.
Versus the euro, the rouble firmed 0.6% to 86.43.
The rouble has moved away from a near 15-month low of 80.4125 hit last month when it was battered by concerns that Russia was planning to invade neighbouring Ukraine, prompting the West to voice threats of fresh sanctions against Moscow.
On Monday, the market will keep an eye on President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
Macron is due to visit Moscow after speaking on Sunday with U.S. President Joe Biden in a “coordination logic” ahead of talks with Putin.
The market also keeps the central bank in focus. On Friday, the Bank of Russia is widely expected to raise its key interest rate from 8.5% as it keeps on fighting with stubbornly high inflation.
Higher rates support the rouble by making investment into rouble-denominated assets more attractive.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia’s main export, was down 0.2% at $93.08 a barrel but traded near its highest levels since 2014 of $94.00 it reached earlier on Monday. [O/R]
Russian stock indexes were up .
The dollar-denominated RTS index rose 1.5% to 1,456.5 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.8% higher at 3,499.3 points.
Shares in top Russian lender Sberbank rose 0.1% on the day to 256.8 roubles ($3.39) per piece after the bank said its net profit increased by nearly 16% to 100.2 billion roubles in January under the Russian accounting standards.
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($1 = 75.6701 roubles)
(Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Toby Chopra)
