The Russian ruble extended its strengthening trend from the previous session on Wednesday, bolstered by central bank interventions and an increase in foreign currency sales by exporters following Russia's extended New Year holidays.
At 0748 GMT, the ruble had appreciated by 0.4% against the dollar and 0.3% against the euro. The central bank has tweaked its intervention formula this year to bolster the ruble. Between January 9 and 12, the bank intends to sell foreign currency worth 900 million rubles ($10.1 million) daily.
"The ruble's strength fundamentally stems from the heavy volume of foreign exchange sales by the central bank," remarked Alexei Antonov from Alor Broker. "Additionally, exporters have begun to offload dollars and yuan accumulated over the New Year holidays."
Since October, when the ruble slid to 100 against the dollar, a presidential decree mandating exporters to convert some foreign currency revenue has buttressed the Russian currency. This, along with a hike in interest rates to 16% last month, has provided further support.
Source: nasdaq.com