USD/RUB Off Lows, Near 65.50 on Oil Gains
The Russian currency is recovering part of the ground lost vs. the dollar on Wednesday, taking USD/RUB to the mid-65.00s for the time being.
USD/RUB lower on oil
The
increasing upside momentum in crude oil prices is lending extra legs to
RUB today, with the barrel of Brent crude up more than 4% above the
$46.00 mark, widening the premium over the barrel of WTI to more than
$0.70.
Canadian wildfires threatening oil sands output continue
to be the exclusive driver behind today’s upside, offsetting the
increasing buying interest in USD.
On the Russian data space,
inflation figures are due at some point today, with consensus expecting
consumer prices to have risen 7.4% on a year to April and 0.6%
inter-month. On the USD-side, speeches by FOMC’s Bullard, Kaplan,
Williams and Lockhart are expected following the NA session.
USD/RUB levels to watch
At
the moment the pair is down 1.40% at 65.60 facing the next support at
64.00 (2016 low Apr.29) ahead of 62.04 (monthly low Nov.4 2015) and then
60.70 (monthly low Oct.9 2015). On the flip side, a surpass of 68.78
(200-day sma) would aim for 69.47 (high Apr.5) and finally 72.27
(100-day sma).
