Posted on 01/21/2015 6:09:44 AM PST by elhombrelibre
The Russian ruble fell on Wednesday, ignoring a firmer oil price, as markets reacted to a surge in fighting in eastern Ukraine and speculation that Russia may soon cut interest rates.
At 11:15 a.m. in Moscow the ruble was down 1 percent against the dollar to trade at 65.86 and 1.1 percent weaker versus the euro at 76.17.
The slide came despite a firming of the oil price, typically the most important driver of Russian assets, with Brent up over a percent to $48.50.
Fighting has intensified in eastern Ukraine between government forces and separatist rebels backed by Russia, complicating peace efforts and diminishing the prospect that the West may soften its sanctions against Russia.
On Tuesday, Ukraine said its forces had also come under attack from regular Russian troops. Russia denied the statement.
However, the influence of Ukrainian developments on Russian markets has declined, ING analyst Dmitry Polevoy said in a note.
(Excerpt) Read more at themoscowtimes.com ...
Sounds like Putin wants to tidy up his outstanding problems the old fashioned way.
Want to protect domestic oil and gas production? Cut off ALL TRADE to Russia, and get the Euros to do the same. Meanwhile, allow emergency exports to Europe of energy, and build the XL pipeline on an emergency basis.
Agree.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.