MOSCOW, Jan 14 (Reuters) – The Russian ruble strengthened on Friday, rallying after a selloff in the Russian market on fears of escalating geopolitical tensions between Moscow and the West.
At 05:13 GMT, the ruble was 0.2% stronger against the dollar at 76.11 after losing more than 2% of its value on Thursday.
Against the euro, the ruble remained stable at 87.31 after slipping from levels of around 85.23 seen the previous day.
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The ruble retains fundamental support thanks to a strong current account surplus and high interest rates at home, but it is influenced more by unfavorable geopolitical factors.
The ruble suffered its biggest drop in 15 months on Thursday and government bonds fell to their lowest level in more than three years after Russia said Washington’s rejection of Moscow’s key security demands was driving the talks reached an impasse. Read more
The ruble has been under pressure since October, as Western countries expressed concerns over Russia’s military buildup near Ukraine. Moscow said it could move its army to its own territory if it deemed it necessary.
The central bank did not respond to a request from Reuters for comment on the ruble’s decline which potentially raises the risks of higher inflation as cheap money makes imports more expensive and lowers living standards.
Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina and Finance Minister Anton Siluanov are due to speak at an economic conference at 0800 GMT and could shed light on official opinion on the ruble’s sharp drop.
For the guide to Russian stocks, see
For Russian Treasury bonds, see
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Reporting by Andrey Ostroukh; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips
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