USD/RUB weaker on Brent gains, around 57.60

The buying pressure around the Russian currency remains well and sound today, dragging USD/RUB to the area of daily lows in the 57.60/50 band.

USD/RUB testing 2-day lows

The pair met increasing selling pressure following the sharp rebound in crude oil prices, with the barrel of Brent crude up around 1% just below the $57.00 mark, a tad below session tops.

In the meantime, spot is retreating for the second consecutive session so far after being rejected from Friday’s peaks in the mid-58.00s, opening the door for a potential re-visit to fresh 19-month lows near 56.70 seen last Wednesday.

In the data space, Philly Fed P.Harker (voter, hawkish) and San Francisco Fed J.Williams (2018 voter, neutral) are due to speak later in the session ahead of tomorrow’s FOMC minutes. In Russia, the jobless rate and Retail Sales are expected on Wednesday.

USD/RUB levels to watch

At the moment the pair is losing 0.52% at 57.66 and a break below 57.02 (low Feb.16) would aim for 56.57 (2017 low Feb.15) and finally 55.27 (monthly low July 2015). On the upside, the next hurdle lines up at 58.54 (high Feb.17) followed by 58.85 (20-day sma) and then 59.59 (high Feb.8).