Rouble steadies after aborted mutiny sparks wild volatility

The Russian rouble steadied on Tuesday after one of its most volatile sessions this year, with market players closely watching for news on how Moscow will respond to an aborted mutiny by heavily armed mercenaries over the weekend.

The rouble slumped to its lowest in nearly 15 months against the dollar on Monday, swinging in its widest trading range seen in a single session in 2023.

At 0754 GMT, the rouble was unchanged at 85.05 against the dollar. It had lost 0.3% to trade at 93.08 versus the euro and shed 0.4% against the yuan to 11.78 .

Capital controls have helped insulate the rouble against geopolitics to a certain extent in the last 16 months, but Yevgeny Prigozhin's march on Moscow reverberated through markets, while President Vladimir Putin's televised address late on Monday added to uncertainty.

Several analysts said that caution would likely linger.

"The rouble will continue to receive support from the tax period today, but tomorrow or the next day, it will start to move towards the 90 mark against the dollar," said Alor Broker in a note.

Month-end tax payments that typically see exporters convert foreign currency revenues to meet local liabilities are due on Wednesday.

Brent crude oil, a global benchmark for Russia's main export, was down 0.1% at $74.10 a barrel.

Russian stock indexes were lower.

"Saturday's events have still been echoing through stock markets: the MOEX index did only fail to recover, but lost another 1.4% in yesterday's session," said Sinara Investment bank. On Tuesday, the dollar-denominated RTS index was down 0.3% to 1,018.4 points. The rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.2% lower at 2,750.8 points.

Moscow Exchange on Tuesday said it would start offering trading in gold futures on Wednesday, in roubles, which it said would significantly expand opportunities for clients.