April 13, 2018, 18:47 / Personal account

The ruble lost all its daily growth

By Friday evening, the ruble exchange rate began to fall again: the dollar was above 62 rubles, the euro – 76.5 rubles Alexandra Astapenko

The ruble is weakening due to oil, says BCS chief economist Vladimir Tikhomirov / Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti

The ruble exchange rate began to decline after rising at the opening of trading on Friday. At the beginning of the day, the dollar fell to 61.17 rubles, the euro to 75.4 rubles. But by 18.00 Moscow time, the dollar rose to 62.04 rubles, the euro – to 76.5 rubles.

The ruble is weakening because of oil, says BCS chief economist Vladimir Tikhomirov. Now the price of June Brent futures is $72.44 (+0.58% by Thursday’s close). The price of oil is still high, although lower than on Wednesday, when quotes exceeded $73 for the first time since November 2014, Tikhomirov recalls. “At the beginning of the week, taking into account the growing geopolitical risks both around Syria and around the Middle East region, oil began to rise significantly. Now, taking into account some weakening of geopolitical risks from America, the markets have begun to win back this: the price of oil has begun to fall,” he explains.

The stock market is also declining. The Moscow Exchange index fell by 1.45% to 2178.07 points, the RTS index - by 1.79% to 1104.95 points. The market reacted to Moscow’s statements about possible counter-sanctions against Washington - this could worsen the prospects for a painless exit from the geopolitical confrontation between the two countries, says Raiffeisen Capital analyst Sofia Kirsanova. But the State Duma goes on recess starting Monday, so the adoption of the law on retaliatory measures will most likely be delayed until the end of April, she adds: however, stock markets operate on expectations, not actual actions.

It is premature to talk about market stabilization; the market continues to fluctuate, as it has all week, says Alfa Capital analyst Daria Zhelannova. In addition, Zhelannova continues, as a rule, military operations take place on weekends, and now investors have taken a wait-and-see approach.

However, judging by data from Emerging Portfolio Fund Research (EPFR), global investor sentiment towards Russia is beginning to recover: last week brought inflows into stock and bond funds after outflows earlier, Kirsanova adds.

Who is subject to new US sanctions?

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The US Treasury has published a list of Russian businessmen and top managers against whom new sanctions have been imposed. As noted in the department's message, there are a total of 26 people and 15 companies on the list.<br><br>Andrey Akimov, Chairman of the Board of Gazprombank

/ Andrey Gordeev / Vedomosti