On Thursday, the Russian ruble formed a very narrow trading range due to the current calm behavior of oil prices, as well as on the eve of important events: the ECB meeting from today and tomorrow's publication on employment and unemployment in the United States.
The dollar on the Moscow Stock Exchange is traded near the mark of 67 rubles, 8 kopeks below the previous close. Since the beginning of the day, the Russian currency is traded within a range slightly wider than a ruble and half: 66.74-67.29 rubles per dollar.
The euro at this time was estimated at 75.29, which is 1 kopek below the previous close.
Brent crude oil is currently traded near $ 50.50 for a barrel, which practically coincides with the closure on Wednesday. Since the beginning of the day the quotes did not go beyond the markers $ 49.90 and $ 50.68, and it is the quietest session since mid-August.
"Today, despite oil’s attempt to demonstrate a recovery and stay stable above $ 50 per barrel, the ruble is unlikely to demonstrate an aggressive strengthening. As before, we expect the local participants will be skeptical to positive movements in the commodity markets", - says Alexei Egorov, from PSB.
According to him, on Thursday, the dollar should be in the range 66.50-67.20 ruble.
On the eve of the ECB meeting, EUR/USD is traded with minor modifications, it is now near $ 1.1237, up 0.1 % compared to the last quotes of yesterday.
The world markets will also focus their attention on data publication on number of applications for unemployment benefits last week, anticipating Friday's official release of the Ministry of Labor of the United States, which will be able to clarify the situation with the probability of the Fed interest rates rise at the meeting on September 16-17.
According to a survey by Reuters, last month there were created 220 000 new jobs, and the unemployment rate fell to 5.2 %, which may be the best indicator of the US labor market over the past seven years.
An unfavorable factor for the ruble remains the busy schedule of payments on external debt under Western sanctions.
In September, the nominal volume of payments will total approximately $ 17 billion, together with interest.