The Russian rouble edged higher in morning trade on Friday as markets await details from the government about its plans to intervene in the currency markets for the month ahead.
The rouble was 0.1% higher against the US dollar at 70.43 at 0715 GMT.
It climbed 0.6% against the euro to 76.72 and was up 0.2% against the Chinese yuan to 10.43. Russia’s finance ministry was expected later on Friday to outline its plans for foreign currency sales for the next month.
Analysts expect the government will sell around 79.75 billion roubles ($1.1 billion) in the period between Feb. 7 to Mar. 6, up from 54.5 billion roubles in the previous period, a Reuters poll showed.
Russia sells down its foreign currency reserves to reduce the rouble’s volatility to global energy prices and to fill gaps in the state budget.
The sales are likely to be conducted in Chinese yuan, which has become a vital currency instrument for the Russian government and companies in the face of Western sanctions banning access to Western financial markets.
Russian rouble hovers near 69.50 vs dollar as exporters pay taxes
Geopolitics and energy also remained in focus, with the next stage of the European Union’s price cap on Russia’s oil exports – including premium refined products such as diesel – set to come into force from Feb. 5.
Russian stock indexes were falling. The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.4% at 999.8 points and the rouble-based MOEX Russian index had also fallen 0.4% to 2,235.8 points.
