The Russian rouble rose to its highest level in more than three weeks against the U.S. dollar on Monday, supported by rising oil prices but restrained by fears about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, plans for which the Russian Federation denied.
At 07:30 GMT, the Russian rouble added 0.3% to 75.60 against the greenback. The ruble gained 0.3% after reaching its strongest level since January 13 of 75.5825.
The rouble gained 0.6% against the euro to 86.43.
Rouble and geopolitical risks
The Russian rouble recovered from a near 15-month low of 80.4125. In January, the Russian currency fell to 80.4125 due to concerns regarding Ukraine. The West threatened to impose sanctions on Russia in case of invasion.
On Monday, the market will monitor President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
Emmanuel Macron is due to visit the Russian Federation after speaking on Sunday with U.S. President Joe Biden in a “coordination logic” ahead of talks with Vladimir Putin.
Furthermore, the market will monitor the Bank of Russia. This week, the country’s central bank is widely expected to raise its key interest rate from 8.5% as it keeps on fighting with stubbornly high inflation.
Higher rates support the country’s currency by investing in rouble-denominated assets more attractive.
Brent crude oil dropped 0.2% to $93.08 a barrel. Interestingly, Brent crude oil is a global benchmark for Russia’s main export. As stated above, it fell 0.2%. Still, Brent crude oil traded near its highest levels since 2014 of $94.00 it reached earlier on Monday.
Russian stock indexes were up on Monday. The dollar-denominated RTS index gained 1.5% to 1,456.5 points. Moreover, the rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.8% higher at 3,499.3 points.
Shares of Sberbank gained 0.1% on the day to 256.8 roubles per piece. The company’s shares rose after Sberbank said its net profit rose by nearly 16% to 100.2 billion roubles in January under the Russian accounting standards.
