Ruble rises, following dollar's decline against euro

The weighted-average exchange rate reached RUR28.49 per dollar at the beginning of today's special trading session for tomorrow deals on US currency. This figure is RUR0.08 lower than the official exchange rate set by the Central Bank of Russia for February 9. Therefore, in contrast to the previous business day, some weakening of American currency against the ruble has been reported at the Unified Trading Session today. As it was reported earlier, on February 6 the dollar rate rose by RUR0.08, and now the ruble has fully regained its positions.

The resumption of the dollar's decline against the ruble may be due to the dollar's fall against the euro on international exchanges. In comparison with the level of February 6, the dollar has lost over 1.5 percent of its value against the euro, and at present, the euro costs as much as $1.2750 on the world market. Possibly, this situation has become the main reason for the intensification of dollar sales by commercial banks on the Russian market. For example, participants of today's special trading session sold about $50m during the first 30 min after the opening, while at the previous UTS this volume of trade was reached only in the afternoon.

Additionally, one should not ignore the fact that an increase in the dollar rate on the previous day took place amid an emotional stress, following the terrorist act in the Moscow Metro. However, three days later this reason has stopped having any noticeable effect on the dollar rate against the ruble.