USD/RUB leaps to 3-day highs beyond 74.00
- USD/RUB reverses recent downside and retakes 74.00 and above.
- Lower crude oil prices put the ruble under pressure.
- The CBR left the key rate unchanged at 4.25% at its meeting.
The Russian currency trims part of its recent gains and poshes USD/RUB to the area of 3-day highs beyond the 74.00 yardstick on Friday.
USD/RUB up on dollar, Brent
USD/RUB is posting strong gains and reverses seven consecutive sessions with losses at the end of the week on the back of the renewed demand for the greenback and the mild correction lower in crude oil prices.
Indeed, prices of the Brent crude navigate the third consecutive day with losses following Wednesday’s new 2021 highs around $61.70 (area last visited more than a year ago.
Additionally, the rebound in the US dollar also weighs on the risk complex and put RUB under further downside pressure.
Earlier in the session, the Russian central bank (CBR) left the key interest rate unchanged at 4.25% at its event. Against the backdrop of the recent pick-up in inflation figures, further rate cuts by the CBR looks increasingly unlikely in the next months.
USD/RUB levels to watch
At the moment the pair is gaining 0.81% at 74.28 and faces the next up barrier at 75.76 (100-day SMA) followed by 76.50 (2021 high Jan.28) and then 79.4397 (monthly high Sep.29 2020). On the flip side, a breach of 73.52 (monthly low Feb.11) would aim for 73.06 (2021 low Jan.4) and then 72.65 (monthly low Dec.17 2020).