USD/RUB pierces off 100.00 to extend pullback from record top as Russia-Ukraine peace talks loom

USD/RUB takes offers to print the second consecutive daily losses.
Diplomats from Kyiv-Moscow eye Thursday’s talks to propose ceasefire.
Russia slapped 30% duty on FX purchase by individuals, key rating agencies downgrade Moscow.
Fed’s Powell, US data and geopolitics are the key catalysts.

Anil Panchal FXStreet

USD/RUB remains on the back foot around $98.00, per Reuters, as traders brace for Thursday’s European session. In doing so, the Russian ruble (RUB) pair stretches the previous day’s U-turn from record top.

The reason could be linked to the market’s anxiety over the likely Russia-Ukraine meeting on Thursday as the diplomats are showing readiness for talks on ceasefire despite Moscow’s military aggression. Recently, Ukrainian authorities confirmed Russia’s capture of southern city Kherson.

The geopolitical concerns triggered an exodus of funds from RUB, which in turn propelled the USD/RUB prices to the all-time high on Wednesday. However, the government levied 30.0% duties on the individual purchase of foreign currencies versus the ruble to slow down the fall of the struggling currency.

Even so, rating downgrade by Moody’s and Fitch join Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish testimony to keep USD/RUB bulls hopeful.

That said, the market’s recently cautious optimism also underpins the USD/RUB pullback. To portray the mood, stock futures print mild gains while the US 10-year Treasury yields remain sluggish.

Moving on, USD/RUB moves depend upon today’s peace talks as a positive outcome may extend the latest declines.

Technical analysis

Overbought RSI conditions favor a pullback towards the previous record top, marked in January 2016 around 86.00. However, fundamentals and bullish MACD signals contrast the previous technical details, which in turn keep buyers hopeful.

Author

Anil Panchal

FXStreet

Anil Panchal has nearly 15 years of experience in tracking financial markets. With a keen interest in macroeconomics, Anil aptly tracks global news/updates and stays well-informed about the global financial moves and their implications.

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.