By MOSCOW, Nov 2 Reuters The Russian rouble plunged to a near sixyear low against the euro on Monday, plagued by falling oil prices, the persistent rise in COVID19 cases at home and abroad, and uncertainty before Tuesdays U.S. presidential election.
Asked about the roubles drop, a fall of around 23 against the dollar this year, the Kremlin said the central bank was helping to limit volatility and said Russia was reducing its dependence on imports and preserving macroeconomic stability.
By 0916 GMT, the rouble had lost 1.1 to trade at 93.65 versus the euro, earlier hitting 94.1425, its weakest since December 2014.
It was 1.2 weaker against the dollar at 80.45 , reaching levels not seen since March 30, a more than sevenmonth low, as investors preferred safehaven assets ahead of the U.S. vote.
Markets are gearing exclusively to the outcome of the U.S. elections, which is fraught with risk, BCS Global Markets said in a note, adding that a scenario where incumbent Donald Trump loses but refuses to step down is particularly unfriendly to markets.
Russian markets also see downside pressure from expectations that Democratic candidate Joe Biden could win the election, which may result in new sanctions against Russia, analysts said.
Psychological marks are being breached, but the magnitude of this volatility is minimised by the regulators efforts, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday.
Foreign currency intervention by the central bank has given the rouble some support…
