Dollar drops below RUR30

The weighted average dollar exchange rate on tomorrow deals amounted to 29.93 RUR/USD at the beginning of a special session today. It was RUR0.09 lower than the official dollar rate set by the Russian Central Bank for October 21. So, the ruble has strengthened noticeably for the third day in a row. On October 17 and 20 the dollar lost RUR0.11.

Commercial bank specialists pointed to the fact that the Russian Central Bank had not interfered in the session to prevent the dollar's weakening below RUR30. Dealers say that the Central Bank is not present at the session currently. They specified that the Central Bank interfered in a session in the event some very large deals were made on the market.

Meanwhile, the trade volume amounted to $20m in the first 40 minutes of the UTS for tomorrow deals. The total trade volume at the UTS for tomorrow deals was just $62.5m on October 20.