By Staff Reporters
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The Russian ruble traded at nearly 101 to the U.S. dollar on Monday for the first time it has fallen below the symbolic threshold since March last year.
The Russian ruble was near the 100 per USD level, holding at its lowest in 17 months despite the Central Bank of Russia’s announcement of an extraordinary meeting on Tuesday to support the currency amid its freefall. Economists expect the CBR to hike its rate by 150bps to 10%, extending the start of July’s tightening cycle. The ruble is 27% down against the dollar year-to-date amid a slowing economy, unbalanced currency flows, and capital flight from exiting foreign companies. The development of new supply chains since the start of Western sanctions boosted imports to Russia and maintained steady selling pressure on the ruble, with the latest trade surplus sinking by 75% from the prior year and 53% from levels before the war. In the meantime, the outlook on exports deteriorated as demand from key partners in China and India declined. The developments drove the CBR to halt forex purchases under the government’s budget rule to halt forex volatility.
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Here is where the major benchmarks ended:
- The S&P 500 Index was up 25.67 points (0.6%) at 4,489.72; the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was up 26.23 points (0.1%) at 35,307.63; the NASDAQ Composite was up 143.48 points (1.1%) at 13,788.33.
- The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) was up about 3 basis points at 4.193%.
- CBOE’s Volatility Index (VIX) was down 0.04 at 14.80.
Chipmakers drove gains for the tech-heavy NASDAQ, as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) jumped 2.9% to erase its entire Friday drop.
Financial shares were among the weakest performers, with the KBW Regional Banking Index (KRX) down 1.8%. Oilfield services shares were also weak behind a drop of nearly 1% in crude oil futures.
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Filed under: "Ask-an-Advisor", Alerts Sign-Up, Alternative Investments, Funding Basics, Investing | Tagged: CBOE, CBR, Central Bank Russia, DJIA, DOW, Forex, KRX, NSDAQ, oil, ruble, Russian Ruble, S&P 500, SOX, TNX, VIX |
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