Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The ruble strengthened to a monthly high against the dollar after oil, Russia’s chief export, posted its biggest monthly advance since May and traded near $80 a barrel.
The Russian currency climbed 0.1 percent to 29.9443 per dollar by 10:39 a.m. in Moscow, heading for its strongest closing level since Jan. 22, according to prices on the Micex Stock Exchange. It weakened 0.3 percent to 40.8098 per euro, leaving the currency at 34.8452 against the central bank’s euro- dollar target basket.
Crude oil for April delivery advanced $1.49 to settle at $79.66 a barrel in New York yesterday, posting a monthly increase of 9.3 percent, the biggest gain since May, after a report showed the U.S. economy grew an annual 5.9 percent in the fourth quarter.
The central bank uses its target currency basket to manage swings that hurt Russian exporters. The basket is calculated by multiplying the dollar’s rate to the ruble by 0.55, the euro to ruble rate by 0.45, then adding them together. The ruble remains within the 26 to 41 band the central bank pledged to defend in January 2009.
