Falling Ruble

The ruble fell for the second week in three against its dollar-euro currency basket as oil plunged and stocks slumped on speculation that global financial turmoil will cut demand for riskier, emerging market assets.

"This is going to be a long process for the ruble," The Moscow Times cited Gaelle Blanchard, an emerging markets currency strategist in London at Societe Generale. "As far as the stock market is concerned, I don't think we'll see a large recovery for a while."

The Central Bank sold $7 billion last week to support the ruble against the basket, according to estimates from MDM Bank. That compares with the $12 billion sold last week, the most since at least Jan. 1, MDM estimates showed.

Author: Ksenia Kochneva