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Bloomberg
The ruble weakened the most among currencies worldwide, catching up with the biggest decline in oil in more than a month, as Russian markets reopened following a two-day holiday.
The currency slid 2.7 percent to 66.37 per dollar in Moscow, the biggest fall since Feb. 2. That pared its gains in 2016 to 10.8 percent, the most in emerging markets after Brazil’s real.
Brent crude tumbled as much as 6.6 percent on Monday and Tuesday when Russian markets were shut for May holidays.
The price of Russia’s main export earner has slowed its rebound from a 13-year low in January as data fueled bets that a worldwide supply glut is entrenched. Hedge funds and other large speculators have trimmed net wagers on a stronger ruble by 47 percent since they reached a one-year high of 5,142 in March, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in Washington.
“The ruble is weakening strongly today as it’s catching up with the oil declines,†said Alexei Egorov, an analyst at Moscow-based Promsvyazbank.
“Trading volumes should be low this week because most local markets players are on holidays, so we shouldn’t see a dramatic change in the ruble’s trajectory.” Crude stockpiles is expected to show supplies rose by 750,000 barrels. “Oil prices are the forefront of current market volatility,†Sberbank CIB analysts including Tom Levinson, said in a research note on Wednesday and predicted the ruble could fall beyond 66.50 per dollar if the US supply data is confirmed.