Russian Ruble Hits Highest Level Since August 1

The Russian ruble recorded its highest level today, Monday, since August 1, reaching 91.5250 to the dollar due to a rebound in oil prices and traders in the foreign exchange market anticipating further support from exporters' foreign currency sales. This represents a jump of more than 0.7 percent during the day. Against the euro, the ruble also rose by more than 0.5 percent, reaching a peak of 97.9500 to the euro, and had a similar increase against the Chinese yuan, reaching 12.533 to the yuan. Evgeny Luktyukhov, an analyst at Promsvyazbank, predicted that the ruble would trade between 91.50 and 93.00 to the dollar this week. Brent crude, a global benchmark for Russia's main exports, also rose by one percent to $82.22 per barrel. Additionally, Russian stock indices increased; the dollar-denominated RTS index rose by 0.9 percent to 1117.43 points, while the ruble-denominated MOEX index increased by 0.19 percent to 3248.3 points.