September 18, 2009, 11:04 / Finance

The dollar has no strength to grow

A slight increase in the dollar at the beginning of trading on the MICEX - up to 30.4 rubles. replaced by a downward movement. The Central Bank may have to enter the market and begin to contain the strengthening of the ruble, analysts say. Vedomosti A. Makhonin

A slight increase in the dollar at the beginning of trading on the MICEX - up to 30.4 rubles. gave way to a downward movement to yesterday's closing levels. The Central Bank may have to enter the market and begin to contain the strengthening of the ruble, analysts say.

At the beginning of trading, the euro rose to 44.7 rubles, the basket of currencies - to 36.85 rubles, but then they also began to decline. The morning decline of the ruble by a few kopecks after reaching a high of the year the day before is due to a halt in the fall of the dollar on the world market and a correction in oil prices, as well as an improvement in the liquidity situation. However, all these factors have so far only been able to have a short-term impact.

"The liquidity situation improved noticeably on Thursday. Money market rates settled at 6-7% by mid-day. At the second auction, the rate was close to the minimum (7.51%), which indicates relatively low competition for money in the afternoon "- writes Nikolai Podguzov, an analyst at Renaissance Capital Investment Company, in his review.

Perhaps market participants satisfied part of the need for ruble liquidity by selling dollars on the foreign exchange market, the expert believes. “In nominal terms, the ruble exchange rate against the dollar on Thursday rose to 30.30 rubles - the maximum value since the end of the ruble devaluation (January 23). In our opinion, the current level of the ruble exchange rate against the dollar may already force the Bank of Russia to think about interventions to to contain the further strengthening of the Russian currency,” Podguzov sums up.

On the world market, the dollar strengthened slightly, stabilizing around $1.473 per euro. The correction in the stock market after the rally revived the demand for protective assets - the dollar and the yen. In the morning, the growth of the American currency continued - to $1.469 per euro. Analysts at Uralsib consider it possible that the dollar will soon weaken further to the level of $1.5 per euro.