26-6-2023 (MOSCOW) In early morning trade on Monday, the Russian rouble opened at a near 15-month low against the US dollar, responding for the first time to reports of the Wagner mutiny, as reported by Reuters. By 0415 GMT, the rouble had weakened by 2.1% against the dollar, reaching 86.50, and had briefly touched 87.2300, its lowest point since late March 2022. Furthermore, it had experienced a 2.2% decline, trading at 94.37 against the euro, and a 2.1% drop against the yuan, settling at 11.95.
As the rouble was not traded over the weekend, Russian banks were offering exchange rates well above the official rate, with some exceeding 90 to the dollar.
The full trading session on Monday is set to commence at 0700 GMT. Investors worldwide are closely monitoring the potential ripple effects stemming from the thwarted mutiny, with expectations of a shift towards safe haven assets like US government bonds and the dollar.
Meanwhile, Brent crude oil, a crucial global benchmark for Russia’s primary export, saw a slight increase of 0.2% to reach $74.03 per barrel.
