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The rouble hovered near 59 against both the dollar and the euro in volatile trade on Tuesday, supported by a strong Russian current account surplus, while stock indexes slipped.

Shares in gold miner Petropavlovsk plunged 33% after the company said it plans to file for administration in a bid to protect its business as it struggles to repay loans owed to sanctions-hit lender Gazprombank.

At 0738 GMT, the rouble was 0.3% weaker at 59.11 against the dollar, which climbed to a near 20-year high against a basket of currencies on the global market and nearly reached parity with the euro.

The rouble was 0.1% stronger on the day at 59.14 to the euro on the Moscow Exchange.

The rouble became the world's best-performing currency  this year, boosted by measures including restrictions on Russian households withdrawing foreign currency savings, taken to shield Russia's financial system from Western sanctions imposed after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.

The currency has also benefited from soaring proceeds from commodity exports and a sharp drop in imports that helped to more than triple Russia's current account surplus in the first half of 2022 to $138.5 billion, data showed on Monday.

The rouble could extend gains to the range of 56-58 on Tuesday, Promsvyazbank analysts said.

On the stock market, the dollar-denominated RTS index fell 1% to 1,142.6 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.9% lower at 2,143.6 points.

"The Russia trade may well see some select cherry picking, especially in Gazprom following Russian finance minister Siluanov's statement that the dividend decision is a one-off," BCS Global Markets said in a note.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in an interview with Vedomosti business daily that the decision by gas giant Gazprom not to pay dividends this year for the first time since 1998 does not mean it will do so in the coming years.

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For Russian treasury bonds see

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Susan Fenton)


Reuters