USD/RUB tumbles to lows near 56.00

The Russian Ruble is trading on a firm note at the beginning of the week, relegating USD/RUB to test daily lows in the boundaries of the 56.00 mark.

USD/RUB in multi-day lows

The bearish trend in the pair stays unchanged so far today, quickly reverting Friday’s uptick and extending the leg lower from last week’s tops in the mid-57.00s.

RUB remains supported by the recent rally in crude oil prices despite the barrel of Brent crude is slipping back to the $55.40 region today (down nearly 1%), while the speculative community stays also supportive of the Russian currency.

Furthermore, RUB speculative net longs have retreated a tad during the week ended on April 11, although they remain close to levels last seen in mid-December according to the latest CFTC report.

In the data space, the NY Empire State Manufacturing index is due ahead of the NAHB index and TIC Flows. In Russia, the only release this week will be the weekly report on FX Reserves held by the CBR (Thursday).

USD/RUB levels to watch

At the moment the pair is losing 0.59% at 56.02 and a break below 55.80 (2017 low Apr.4) would expose 53.03 (low Jun.16 2015) and then 52.86 (low Jun.2 2015). On the other hand, the immediate up barrier aligns at 56.71 (20-day sma) followed by 57.55 (high Apr.10) and finally 57.86 (55-day sma).