Dollar gains on MICEX at start of trades on Weds, euro slips
MOSCOW. April 4 (Interfax) - The U.S. dollar opened trades on the MICEX on Wednesday with significant gains as the euro declined owing to its losses on the world forex market. The Russian ruble shifted its position downward against the Central Bank's bi-currency basket (set at 0.45 euro and $0.55).
The dollar opened Wednesday trading on the MICEX at 29.4-29.42 rubles/$1, which is 26 kopecks over yesterday's close and the official rate.
The euro opened trades around 38.8 rubles/EUR1, which is 11 kopecks under Tuesday's close and 28 kopecks under the official rate.
The bi-currency basket opened at 33.63-33.64 rubles, which is 10 kopecks over Tuesday's close.
Experts at the Interfax Center for Economic Analysis said that the dollar's gains and the euro's losses have been driven by the latter's decline on the forex market. At the same time the ruble is under the influence of contradictory factors and has been therefore fluctuating only slightly. The negative trend on the stock market has been compensated by rising demand for ruble liquidity, experts said.
