MOSCOW--The Bank of Russia has intervened to shore up the ruble, shifting the currency's trading corridor again following its drop to record lows Monday on foreign-exchange markets, according to latest data from the central bank.
The central bank shifted the ruble's corridor 10 kopecks higher to 35.60 rubles to 44.60 rubles versus the euro-dollar basket on Monday, data released Tuesday from the central bank showed.
The move suggests that the Bank of Russia spent at least $700 million on the first trading day of the week to prop up the ruble.
The Bank of Russia keeps the ruble within a floating trading band and intervenes if the ruble weakens to the upper boundary of the band. The central bank sells $350 million at the upper boundary and then shifts the ruble's band by five kopecks higher. If the ruble weakens to the band's edge again, the central bank intervenes with another $350 million from its reserves.
The ruble has come under intense downside pressure in the past month.
Sliding oil prices have hit Russia's economic hard given the country's dependence on oil and gas exports.
At the same time, sanctions imposed by Western countries after Russia's annexation of Crimea and support for rebels in eastern Ukraine have limited the ability of Russian banks and companies to borrow abroad.
Unable to fund themselves on Western markets, Russian firms and lenders are buying more dollars and euros on the local market.
The ruble's most recent slump in value triggered central-bank intervention in early October, the first time since May. Since the beginning of this month, the central bank shifted the trading band by a cumulative 20 kopecks.
The ruble hovered at 44.41 versus the euro-dollar basket in early Tuesday trading in Moscow, outside the central bank's intervention level.
Against the U.S. itself, the ruble traded at 39.70, just above its all-time low of 40.05 hit overnight.
