USD/RUB drops and tests 2019 lows near 66.00

RUB gains extra ground and drags spot to fresh yearly lows.
Brent advance sustains the up move in the Russian currency.
Russian trade surplus came in at nearly $19 billion in November.

Pablo Piovano FXStreet

The Russian currency is extending its upbeat tone so far this week and is now forcing USD/RUB to trade in new YTD lows in the vicinity of 66.00 the figure.

USD/RUB up on Brent move

Spot is trading on the defensive for the third consecutive week so far following the rejection from late-December peaks in the 70.00 neighbourhood, leaving behind the 10-day SMA and the 100-day SMA at 66.72 and 66.69, respectively.

RUB is deriving extra support from the up move in crude oil prices, lifting the barrel of European reference Brent crude to levels close to the $62.00 mark, or gaining more than 1% for the day.

In the US data space, US Industrial Production expanded more than expected 0.3% MoM in November, while the preliminary print of the Consumer Sentiment for the current month is due later. Earlier in the session, Russian trade surplus shrunk a tad to $18.98 billion during November.

USD/RUB levels to watch

At the moment the pair is losing 0.12% at 66.30 and a break below 66.16 (2019 low Jan.18) would aim for 67.78 (200-day SMA0 and finally 65.43 (low Nov.22 2018). On the flip side, the initial hurdle aligns at 66.72 (10-day SMA) followed by 67.18 (55-day SMA) and then 69.94 (high Dec.29 2018).

Author

Pablo Piovano

FXStreet

Born and bred in Argentina, Pablo has been carrying on with his passion for FX markets and trading since his first college years.

EUR/USD remains offered below 1.1800, looks at US data

EUR/USD is still trading on the defensive in the latter part of Thursday’s session, while the US Dollar maintains its bid bias as investors now gear up for Friday’s key release of the PCE data, advanced Q4 GDP prints and flash PMIs.

GBP/USD bounces off monthly lows near 1.3430

GBP/USD is sliding in tandem with its risk-sensitive peers, drifting back towards the 1.3430 area, its lowest levels in the month. The move reflects a firmer Greenback, supported by another round of solid US data and a somewhat divided FOMC Minutes.

Gold surrenders some gains, back below $5,000

Gold is giving away part of its earlier gains on Thursday, receding to the sub-$5,000 region per troy ounce. The precious metal is finding support from renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and declining US Treasury yields across the curve in a context of further advance in the Greenback.

XRP edges lower as SG-FORGE integrates EUR stablecoin on XRP Ledger

Ripple’s (XRP) outlook remains weak, as headwinds spark declines toward the $1.40 psychological support at the time of writing on Thursday.

Hawkish Fed minutes and a market finding its footing

It was green across the board for US Stock market indexes at the close on Wednesday, with most S&P 500 names ending higher, adding 38 points (0.6%) to 6,881 overall. At the GICS sector level, energy led gains, followed by technology and consumer discretionary, while utilities and real estate posted the largest losses.

Injective token surges over 13% following the approval of the mainnet upgrade proposal

Injective price rallies over 13% on Thursday after the network confirmed the approval of its IIP-619 proposal. The green light for the mainnet upgrade has boosted traders’ sentiment, as the upgrade aims to scale Injective’s real-time Ethereum Virtual Machine architecture and enhance its capabilities to support next-generation payments.