The Russian ruble fell by more than 15% against the dollar and euro during the opening of the market in Moscow on Monday, but strict new sanctions against Russia put central bank intervention at record lows in Asian trade. After the fall, it stopped the fall.
As of 0800 GMT, the ruble was trading at US $ 95.48. It fell 15% from Friday’s closing price to 107.3550 per euro, down 15.4%. The sale of foreign currency by the central bank was set to limit losses in Moscow transactions. It previously reached a record low of $ 120 on the electronic currency trading platform EBS.
On Monday, the Central Bank of Russia raised its key interest rate to 20 percent in an urgent move to support the ruble and deal with inflation risk.
The central bank has intervened in the FX market since February 24, when Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.
Central bank action helped raise the ruble from record lows to about 114 per dollar at EBS around 0730 GMT.
Analysts at Promsvyazbank said the Russian currency could move in the range of $ 100- $ 120 during the day.
Shares traded on the Moscow Stock Exchange have been closed.
The Russian market was hit after Western nations tightened sanctions in retaliation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Central Bank of Russia announced on Sunday a number of steps to support the domestic market as it scrambled to manage the failure of sanctions to block some banks from the SWIFT international payment system.
The central bank said it would resume buying gold in the domestic market, launch unlimited repurchase auctions and relax restrictions on banks’ open foreign currency positions.
Rabobank analysts warned that sanctions on foreign exchange reserves had removed most of the ruble’s support before the Moscow Stock Exchange opened.
“If no one can use FX in exchange for gold, even gold is not a liquid. Today, the ruble will collapse completely …” they write.
“The ruble’s collapse seems inevitable on Monday morning,” said Ray Atril, head of FX strategy at the National Australia Bank, in a Sunday memo. Russia’s default as a result of weekend developments. The risk has increased. ..
follow