OREANDA-NEWS. Yesterday, trading flows remained subdued, with total USDRUB turnover in the MICEX of just USD 3.3bn. During the day, RUB traded heavy amid a sluggish performance from crude oil. Hence, Brent ended 1.5% down at USD 56.3/bbl, while nearest futures (CO1) slipped 3.3% to USD 56.4/bbl. In addition, the EM FX index declined 0.6-0.8% vs. USD with ZAR and TRY down around 0.8%, whilst BRL slipped 2.2%. USDRUB kicked off near 65.20 and picked up to 66.40 in the evening, later it moved up to 66.90 as crude’s slippage accelerated. However, in the last trading hours USDRUB declined to 65.14. Thus, RUB firmed 0.5% vs. USD, basically trading in line with NOK, and both outperformed other commodity-based currencies.

Maxim Korovin, Tatiana Zueva
VTB Capital analysts