Russian ruble

The Russian ruble dived around 29% against the dollar on Monday morning, as markets digested the effects of sanctions on Russia amid its invasion of ...

"And they're going to do it really with governments that are friendly to them. I think there still is plenty more room for weakness to come," Rai told CNBC's "Street Signs Asia." I think there still is plenty more room for weakness to come.Bipan RaiCIBC Capital Markets It later pared some of its losses, trading at 93 per dollar by 3:30 p.m. in Moscow, still down roughly 20% against the dollar in the last year. Russia's central bank on Monday confirmed it had barred its brokers from carrying out sell orders from foreigners as it seeks to contain the financial market fallout. To me, it doesn't really feel like we're looking at or at least we're going to see the bottom in the ruble here.

Investors flock to safe haven currencies including the US dollar and yen amid growing international isolation of Moscow.

The single currency lost 0.73 percent to 129.265 yen, and was 0.60 percent lower at 1.03665 Swiss franc. Investors flocked to safe-haven currencies, including the US dollar and yen, after Russian President Vladimir Putin put nuclear-armed forces on high alert on Sunday, the fourth day of the biggest assault on a European state since World War Two. The Russian rouble plummeted to a record low against the dollar on Monday amid an accelerating Western-led campaign to punish and isolate Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

Measures announced over the weekend aimed at restricting the Russian central bank's ability to support the ruble appear to be having an immediate impact.

The Bank of Russia took steps on Monday to restore confidence, and more than doubled interest rates to 20 percent from 9.5 percent in order to offset the rapid depreciation of the ruble. Meanwhile, the foreign ministry moved to order companies to sell 80 percent of their foreign currencies, in a bid to gin up demand for rubles and prevent them from stockpiling dollars and euros. The central bank could trade in some of those bonds for renminbi, which would enable it to buy goods from China but not from other countries. “This gets at the Russian government’s basic tools to manage its macroeconomy.” In countries like Russia, where the currency is not so stable, the ability to convert to a strong and trusted one like the dollar or the euro is crucial. Other estimates put the amount of assets held outside Russia at closer to $300 billion. These are the vast haul of convertible assets — other nations’ currencies and gold — that Russia has built up, financed in large part through the money it earns selling oil and gas to Europe and other energy importers. As Mr. Bernstam explained, the Bank of Russia has roughly $640 billion in foreign exchange reserves on paper — or rather as electronic entries. As the value of any currency drops, more people will want to get rid of it by exchanging it for one that is not losing value — and that, in turn, causes its value to drop further. Kicking banks out of SWIFT has gotten the most public attention, but the measures taken against the central bank are potentially the most devastating. In Russia today, as the purchasing power of the ruble drops sharply, consumers who hold it are finding that they can buy less with their money. In Russian cities, anxious customers started lining up on Sunday in front of A.T.M.s, hoping to withdraw the money they had deposited in banks, fearful it would run out.

Futures for the Russian ruble were declining more than 19% Monday after the country's central bank hiked interest rates in the face of tougher Western sanctions for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The ruble's futures contract for March 2022 at last check ...

Futures for the Russian ruble were declining more than 19% Monday after the country’s central bank hiked interest rates in the face of tougher Western sanctions for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. - Print Article - Order Reprints