Ruble, stocks fall despite positive news from U.S., Europe

The official rate of the Russian ruble for tomorrow settlement fell by 23 kopecks against the dollar to 32.11 on Friday despite positive news from the U.S. and Europe. The value of the bi-currency basket, comprising $0.55 and 0.45 euros, increased 11 kopecks to 37.18 rubles as of 10:01 a.m. Moscow time. "The Russian currency is reacting strongly to unstable external background and falling interest in risky assets which creates a moderate pressure on the ruble. Now the ruble is more stable than a week ago after reaching the upper level of the bi-currency corridor and thanks to the more active measures by the central bank,"  Broco group's head of analysis Alexei Matrosov told RIA Novosti. On Thursday, the German parliament approved the widening of the European Financial Stability Facility from 440 million to 780 million euros, while Germany's share in it grew from 123 million euros to 211 billion euros. In the U.S., the second quarter of real GDP growth exceeded analysts' expectations of 1.2 percent, reaching 1.3 percent. "The increase is nominal as well as growth of the private sector profit which is the same as in late 2009. It is not real incomes which are recovering very slowly. Many things now depend on U.S. state spending," Investcafe analyst Georgy Voronkov said. International oil prices grew on the positive news from the U.S. and Europe. Futures on Brent blend edged up to $104.50 per barrel from $104 on Thursday. The index of the ruble-denominated MICEX stock exchange fell 1.16 percent to 1,391.38, while the index of the dollar-denominated RTS stock exchange eased 1.66 percent to 1,366.02 as of 11:34 a.m. Moscow time. In Europe, the FTSE100 fell 1.07 percent to 5,141.02, the DAX slipped 1.12 percent to 5,576.69, the CAC40 went down 0.81 percent to 3,003.15 as of 11:34 a.m. Moscow time. The markets will be watching a meeting on Friday between Greek Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on additional financial support to Athens.