The Russian rouble weakened to a near three-week low against the dollar on Monday, with some support ebbing away as companies make month-end tax payments.
The rouble was 0.6% weaker against the dollar at 69.87 by 1126 GMT, its weakest mark since Jan. 11.
It lost 0.8% against the euro to 76.13, a three-week low, and shed 0.8% versus the yuan to 10.34 .
The rouble usually gains support from month-end tax payments when exporters convert foreign exchange revenue to pay local liabilities. A scheduling adjustment means from this year taxes are due in a single payment, which this month falls on Jan. 30.
“The Russian currency may lose tax period support this week and be at risk of further declines,” Veles Capital said in a note.
The rouble is buttressed by foreign currency sales by the government, which is offloading up to 3.2 billion roubles ($46 million) per day of Chinese yuan.
Those sales should support the rouble in the short term, compensating for the shortfall in oil and gas revenues, said First Asset Management in a note, expecting the rouble to trade in the 68-71 range against the dollar in the near-term.
The rouble has been under external pressure since a Western price cap on Russia’s oil sales came into force in early December alongside a European Union embargo of Russian oil exports, forcing Moscow to sell at a discount.
Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia’s main export, was down 0.1% at $86.6 a barrel.
Russian stock indexes were mixed.
The dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.3% at 989.4 points while the rouble-based MOEX Russian index was up 0.3% at 2,195.3 points.
Shares in state telecoms provider Rostelecom jumped 4.2% after a report by daily paper Kommersant said the company was in talks to buy rival Megafon.
For Russian equities guide see
For Russian treasury bonds see ($1 = 69.5955 roubles) (Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by David Goodman and Arun Koyyur)
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