Dollar posts gains on MICEX, euro slips below 40 rubles
MOSCOW. March 18 (Interfax) - The U.S. dollar increased on the MICEX at the end of trading on Thursday while the euro dropped, going below 40 rubles for the first time since December 2008. The dollar gained against the euro on the forex market while a mixed trend was felt on oil prices. The ruble posted some gains against the Central Bank's bi-currency basket.
The dollar gained 6.5 kopecks to finish at 29.225 rubles/$1 in Tomorrow trades while the euro went down by 14.5 kopecks to close at 39.7 rubles/EUR1.
The bi-currency basket (set at 0.55 and 0.45 euro) slipped to around 34.03-34.08 rubles during the day.
The dollar's average weighted exchange rate on the MICEX increased by 5.94 kopecks to 29.2126 rubles/$1 in Today deals on Thursday and by 4.6 kopecks to 29.2212 rubles in Tomorrow deals. Total dollar trading on the MICEX amounted to $4.167 billion with $945.3 million in Today deals and $3.222 billion in Tomorrow deals.
The average weighted rate of the euro decreased by 27.24 kopecks to 39.9543 rubles/EUR1 rubles in Today deals and 20.66 kopecks to 39.9657 rubles/EUR1 in Tomorrow deals. Total euro trading came to 145.2 million euro, of which 70.7 million euro were Today deals and 74.5 million euro were Tomorrow deals.
The overnight MIACR came to 3.43%, down 13% basis points for the day.