MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian rouble weakened further on Thursday, adjusting after a significant rally since the start of the year that has been fuelled by hopes of an easing in geopolitical tensions amid talks between Russia and the United States.
By 0920 GMT, the rouble was down 0.4% at 84.30 against the dollar in the over-the-counter market, extending its losses from the previous session when it fell 2.8%, its biggest daily drop since the beginning of the year.
Against the Chinese yuan, the most traded foreign currency in Russia, the rouble was down 1.1% at 11.62 on the Moscow Stock Exchange. Despite these losses, the rouble is still up by 26% against the dollar this year.
“What we are observing now is a natural rebound after a series of margin calls for early players against the rouble and buyers of currency futures; they simply had to sell urgently,” BCS analysts said in a note.
(Reporting by Gleb Bryanski; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
