Aug 26, 2022 03:55AM ET
By: AnalysisWatch
The Russian ruble opened unchanged in trade on Friday as exporters' tax payments at the end of the month helped the currency hold around the 60-point benchmark against the US dollar.
The Russian ruble was unchanged against the dollar at 60.13 and down 0.3 percent against the euro at 59.74 at 0723 GMT.
The ruble has been the world's best-performing currency this year, supported by extraordinary capital controls introduced by the central bank in a bid to stem massive selling.
Analysts said month-end tax payments, in which Russian exporters usually convert their foreign exchange earnings into rubles to pay them to the state treasury, have supported the ruble this week.
Russian stock indexes saw more movement yesterday, with the dollar-denominated RTS index losing 0.5 percent in the first minutes of trading in Moscow, falling to 1,177.1 points. The rouble-based MOEX index remained unchanged at 2,246.2 points.
Few movers were expected for either the Russian currency or stocks on Friday, said Zarina Saidova, an analyst at Moscow brokerage Finam.
Trading volumes are very low due to the holiday season. At the same time, the external backdrop isn't so bad; optimism prevails in U.S. and European markets, which have largely been on pause as they await U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's comments at Jackson Hole later today.