The Russian rouble continued its precipitous decline from the previous day on Wednesday, falling to its lowest levels against the dollar and the euro since late May and returning to levels that the government favours as intervention rumours circulated.
The rouble reached more than seven-year highs a week ago, but it has since fallen more than 20% versus the dollar after a number of officials expressed worries about its strength. The rouble has weakened by 4.5 percent to 63.90 against the dollar at 7:26 GMT, its lowest level since May 30.
It had fallen to 66.6450, which was also low from May 30. It had since lost 3.5 percent to trade at 65.83 vs the euro. In anticipation of efforts to control the currency, the rouble is continuing its downward correction from multi-year highs, according to a report from Veles Capital.
Soon after Finance Minister Anton Siluanov suggested that Russia could use currency intervention to rein in the rouble's rise, the currency started to take a serious tumble. The rouble plunged by about 10% on Tuesday, and the central bank refused to comment on whether there had been any intervention. Meanwhile, the finance ministry said it had no plans to utilise the projected extra budget income to purchase gold or foreign currency.
The Russian Trading System index, which is denominated in dollars, fell by 3.1 percent to 1,111.2 points after previously reaching its lowest level since May 11. The Russian MOEX index, which is based on the rouble, increased 1.2 percent to 2,254.1 points.
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