Russian ruble gains slight ground against US dollar after Biden’s speech
A man walks past a board showing currency exchange rates of the U.S. dollar and the euro against the Russian ruble in Moscow, Russia, Feb. 22, 2022. (AFP Photo)


After falling for three straight days, the Russian ruble against the United States dollar slightly recovered late Tuesday, following U.S. President Joe Biden announcing sanctions on Russia due to the country’s recognition of two Ukrainian breakaway regions.

The U.S. dollar against the ruble was at 78.9, down more than 0.46%. Meanwhile, the euro against the ruble fell more than 0.26% to below 90.

The Russian currency on Monday morning was trading at more than 91 to the euro and 80.7 to the dollar.

The Russian stock market on Tuesday declined for the fourth consecutive trading day before recovering to close in positive territory.

The Moscow Exchange, MOEX, fell to as low as 2,756.46 points during trading hours to close the day at 3,084.74 points for a 1.58% gain, according to official figures.

The dollar-denominated RTS Index, which has identical component stocks as MOEX, lost at 1,226.69 points.

Russian oil company Rosneft saw its stock price decline 5.5% as of 5:20 p.m. GMT, but natural gas firm Gazprom shares were up 6.1%, figures showed.

The MOEX Index, which is denominated in rubles, posted a 16.7% decline from last Thursday through Monday.