Ruble Volatility in Early Trading

        MOSCOW--The Russian ruble swung back and forth against the dollar in early trading Wednesday but remained above record lows hit earlier this week after Brent crude prices slipped below $60 a barrel.
        The ruble shed more than 5% in the first five minutes of trading, falling below 72 and then rebounding to 66.95 by 0730 GMT, holding above its weakest-ever level of 80.1 touched on Tuesday.
        On Tuesday, the battered ruble plunged to record lows against the dollar and the euro, as investors grew convinced that the Russian central bank's surprise move to jack up interest rates to 17% wouldn't be enough to alleviate the pressure on the currency from falling oil prices and western sanctions. Demand for hard cash on the street added to the downside pressure on the ruble.
        Banks have reported increased demand for foreign currencies even though their prices rose to record highs against the ruble, and some exchange offices in Moscow ran out of foreign cash on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Interfax news agency reported similar problems elsewhere across the country, particularly in the Ural city of Chelyabinsk.
        The central bank hasn't announced any new steps to limit the ruble's losses after it carried out a massive monetary tightening earlier this week. On Wednesday, its data showed it continued intervening on Monday and spent $1.96 billion to ease pressure on the ruble. After letting the ruble float freely in November, the central bank hasn't left the market and sold as much as $10 billion to save the ruble from rapid depreciation so far this month.
        Write to Andrey Ostroukh at andrey.ostroukh@wsj.com
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        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        December 17, 2014 03:00 ET (08:00 GMT)

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